


Death's Son

by LittleMissXanda



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-09
Updated: 2015-03-10
Packaged: 2017-12-31 23:42:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 9
Words: 64,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1037781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleMissXanda/pseuds/LittleMissXanda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He was lying in the mud dying, the world was already dead. Voldemort must be in his grave laughing, he had been right all along and now it was to late to do anything about it. Death didn't quite agree with that and now Death's son was going to make the muggles pay for everything they had done.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Death

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer:This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J. K. Rowling. No money is being made.

**Chapter 1 – Death**

Nineteen. Nineteen years. That was for how many years they had peace after the second war against Voldemort had ended in 1998. However after those nineteen years a man rose to power and he plunged them in the most brutal and bloody war that they could have imagined. Though that man wasn't a Dark Lord, by Merlin, the man wasn't even a wizard. A muggle, a simple muggle, started a war that would exterminate life on earth as they knew it.

And now, when Harry was lying on a muddy forest floor, surrounded by muggles laughing while they watched him bleed to death he couldn't help but think of Voldemort and his Death Eaters. He was sure that they were in hell laughing themselves silly, they had been right after all. And now there was nothing they could do about it.

Harry closed his eyes, ready to die, though his last thought brought a smile to his lips. He knew that the bastards that had killed him would join him in hell soon, considering that it was impossible to live on a dead planet.

 

* * *

Harry awoke slowly. He felt comfortable, his body didn't feel sore. It had been years since he felt that good. If this was death then he rather liked it, it was far better than the last two decades of his life at least.

Cautiously he opened his eyes. From what he could see he was lying on a couch in some sort of study. Harry almost pinched himself to see if he was truly awake. He had been certain that he had died. He never thought that the afterlife would be a study. He had to admit that he was a bit disappointed. However before he could get lost in his thoughts about his apparently boring afterlife a calm, smooth voice, that came from behind him, was heard.

“I see that you are awake, young Master.”

Harry was up in the blink of an eye, in a combat position even before his brain could process what he did. Years upon years of war left habits that were hard to break, apparently not even dying broke them.

Behind him was an otherworldly beautiful man, with long silky midnight black hair, and eyes just as dark. They were so dark that Harry couldn't make out his pupils.

Seeing Harry's wand pointed at him the man raised his hands in a universal sign of peace.

“You do not have to worry young Master, I mean you no harm. We just have a few things to clear up, a few choices to make and then you are free to go.”

Harry, even though a part of him was screaming at him not to do it, lowered his wand. He just couldn't help it, there was something about the man that was so familiar to him, it made him feel at ease.

That was when he noticed his hands, they looked younger than he remembered.

“Where am I?” he asked, after taking a deep breath, trying not to panic “I was sure that I had died.”

The stranger smiled, it transformed the flawless, aristocratic face into something more... more humane. He took a few steps and sat at the desk behind him, inviting Harry to join him.

Slowly, never taking his eyes of the man, he took the few steps towards the chair in front of the desk. Just because he had lowered his wand didn't mean he wouldn't be careful.

“I said there was nothing to worry about young Master,” the stranger reassured him, “However I am aware that certain habits are hard to break. Though that doesn't matter at the moment. Answering your previous questions, we are nowhere and everywhere. We just are, it is as simple as that. And about you dying, you did in fact die, which is the problem to begin with.”

Harry didn't know if the fact that he had died was making it more difficult to comprehend what he had been told, or if he was simply in shock. Either way something that the being, yes _being_ because no matter how much he looked like one he was sure that the being in front of him wasn't human, stood out in his mind.

“What do you mean, me dying is a problem? And why do you keep calling me young Master? Who are you?”

“Those are questions that will clear this situation right up. Well, we will start with the easiest one. Who I am. I am Death.” the being replied calmly, as if announcing that one was the personification of _**Death**_ was the most natural thing in the world. But Death didn't stop there, “I call you young Master because you possess the Deathly Hallows. And the fact that you are the Master of Death, my Master, causes problems.”

Harry gawked at Death. He had heard and understood every word that Death said, however it still made no sense whatsoever.

“What do you mean I'm the Master of Death?” he exclaimed, slightly hysterical, after a few seconds of silence, “I thought that all that story with the Hallows was only symbolic. Besides I don't have the wand and the ring anymore. I haven't had them for a good fifty-nine years. Since the battle at Hogwarts with Tom.”

Death smiled and again Harry felt himself calm down. He couldn't understand why a being that would scare everyone, make them run for the hills, made him feel so comfortable.

“I find it incredible that you have no trouble in accepting that I am Death and yet you have such a difficult time accepting the truth about the Hallows.”

“Those are completely different situations,” Harry exclaimed, looking at Death bewildered, “I died, so me being in front of Death isn't really that surprising. Strange? Yes, without a doubt, but not impossible. But the Hallows, that's a completely different story.”

Death laugh and Harry was surprised to see true amusement in the powerful being's eyes.

“Ah, young Master, you were always able to amuse me.” Death told him, with a grin on his lips.

“Well, it's good to know that my existence causes you joy.” Harry replied sarcastically. He knew that pissing of a being as powerful as Death was a bad idea, more than bad actually, but he didn't feel afraid. He felt strangely at ease and that sense of familiarity was back and Harry just didn't understand it.

The smile on Death's face didn't diminish and there was a tenderness in his eyes that Harry hadn't noticed before.

“Yes. I can not deny the fact that your existence causes me joy. I will not deny that your existence brings me happiness either. And that is one of the reasons why the Hallows are not symbolic for you.”

Harry waited patiently for Death to continue, however when one minute came and went the little patience that Harry had evaporated.

“I'm sure that what you said is quite logical and explains everything, but I just don't get it.”

“Very well, let's start with the Hallows. Do you not find it strange that since the creation of them you were the only one to ever possess them all? It is not for nothing that those that possess the wand or the ring die soon after. A mortal could only possess the Hallows as long as I wished it. No one ever had two of them for long, because as soon as it happened Death marked them quickly after. I always did everything so that no mortal could have all three of them. Do you think that I, Death, would let a mortal bind me? Have power over me? There never was anything that had power over me, that could control me. I am the only thing that is absolute, no matter what. So I could never allow for a mortal to have that kind of power. Even just a fraction of it would be to much.

However all that changed on the night of the 31st of October of 1981. I was there that night. I am not always there when someone or something dies, generally only when it's something that will change the world or when one of my Hallows is about to change hands. Seconds before James Potter died I knew that one of my Hallows was about to get a new owner so I appeared immediately to the person who would next possess it. You can't imagine my surprise when I saw that the on that would possess the Hallow was a toddler, not even a child, a toddler. However, considering the situation you were in I was expecting to feel the Hallow change temporary ownership in the next few seconds. However that didn't happen and in front of me was a toddler that had done something that mortals considered impossible. I was quite surprised, I had thought that the power to do it had died out long ago. Though it surprised me it wouldn't have been enough to keep my interest. No, what kept my interested was the fact that the toddler could see _Me_.

I stayed with you till the half-giant came to get you and I could have let things end there. I could have attributed the fact that you could see me to the Avada Kedavra. However it wasn't that simple. Through the connection you had with on of my Hallows you had a connection to me and every night I could feel you calling me. The first few nights I ignored it, I don't think you even knew what you were doing, though one night I went. After that night I went again and again, till I was going practically every night. And when it became necessary I stayed the whole night with you, taking care of you.”

“It was you!” Harry exclaimed, looking at him in wonder, “You were the one who healed me, when the Dursleys beat me, or when I was burned.”

“Yes, it was me. I was with you as much as I could. But you grew up and you erased me from your mind. You thought I was an imaginary friend and ended up believing that it was all your imagination, then because of the Dursleys you started to not think about anything that wasn't ' _normal_ ', so you forced yourself to forget me. However your soul never forgot, your soul always remembered me. I still watched over you every night, even if you could no longer see me.

Then when you finally used the Hallow for the first time I noticed the difference immediately. The Hallow belonged to you, it was as much yours as it was mine, something that had never happened before. After seeing the difference in that Hallow I went to look at the others. There was a difference as well. Usually the Hallows had two connections. One with me, and a really weak one with the current holder. However in that moment there were three. One with me, one with the current holder and one with you.

I have to admit to being rather shocked. The Hallows are a part of me and for them to have that kind of connection with you would only be possible if you were also a part of me, or I a part of you. I was never sure about how it happened, but when you called and I answered, we sealed our fate, and you were out of Life's grasp.

After I realized that, I noticed that I had feelings, emotions, for you. Those emotions lead to you possessing all three Hallows. I had parental feelings towards you and what father wants to see their child die?

So the Hallows stopped being symbolic and you became the Master of Death.

So even after you gave up the other two, they were still as much linked to you as I was, they were still yours, you were still the Master of Death.”

Death didn't say anything else and Harry was really grateful for that. He needed a moment, well, alright, he needed much more than a moment. After all it wasn't every day that you found out that Death had practically adopted you. Taking advantage of the silence Harry looked through his memories, trying to find something that would make him remember the being in front of him. However the only thing he could remember was the feeling of comfort, tenderness and care when he thought that he had lost all strength. Had that been Death helping in any way it could? Was that why he had that feeling of familiarity? Because his soul remembered, knew the being in font of him. Knew that that being had always been there for him, even when his mind couldn't or wouldn't remember him anymore. Was that why he felt so comfortable, so safe?

“I... I don't understand...” whispered Harry, “Why me?”

“You have to understand Harry, I am Death. Mortals don't interact with me, nothing interacts with me. They are far to afraid. I do not really care about it either. Millenniums went by with me just being and observing. But with you, I didn't just observe. I got involved and that changed everything, do you understand? I saw billions be born and die. I saw worlds start and end. I was always there seeing the beginning and ending, never involving myself. But with you... I helped you grow, I raised you.”

And Harry understood. He had children that he saw being born, children that he raised, children that he saw die and he knew that there was nothing worse than seeing your child die.

“I understand.” he whispered, looking at Death and smiling slightly.

They stayed silent, savoring the moment of peace. Reluctantly Harry broke it, no matter how comfortable he felt he still had lots of questions.

“What does it mean, being Master of Death?”

Death looked him in the eyes and sighed, surprising him by doing such a human gesture.

“Being Master of Death has several advantages. For example Avada Kedavras have no effect on you whatsoever. The Hallows answer to you as if they were a part of you. You can't die.”

“But... But I died.” Harry said, looking a bit confused, if he couldn't die, why was he dead?

For the first time he saw anger appear on Death face, an all consuming anger that threatened to destroy everything in it's path. Though when those eyes focused on him he could see the sadness in them.

“Yes, you did.” he said softly, tenderly, as if the mere thought was painful, “My intention was to let you live a normal life. I knew how much you wanted it, so I had decided to let you live your mortal life without interfering, though always keeping a close eye on you, watching you grow and be happy. Then when you died I would tell you the truth about the Hallows, including the fact that you are immortal. You are tied to me, Death, in an unbreakable way so as long as there is Life there will be Death. We will exist till the end of time and even beyond that, since every end is followed by a beginning and every beginning has Life and Death.” Harry knew that he was looking at Death incredulously, how could he not be, he was being told that he would outlive everything there was or would ever be, it was quite a lot to take in. Death smiled gently at him, “As I was saying, after you died I would tell you the truth and give you two choices. The first one would be, you going back, you would be de-aged to around twenty something and continue to live your life however you wanted or you could be reborn, not remembering your previous live, till you reached your magical maturity at seventeen.

As a matter of fact those are still your options, but those mortals...” Death practically snarled it was rather terrifying, even if he didn't feel afraid, “The planet is dead. It's only a matter of time till all life on earth ceases to be, from what I've seen it won't be longer than six months. So those two choices don't really exist anymore.”

Harry didn't really know what to say, he had never wanted immortality but he knew he couldn't blame Death. He hadn't done it consciously and besides Death was doing everything in it's power so that it would be easier on him. Besides if Death truly saw him as a son, it would be rather cruel to tell him to let his son die. The pain that it caused, it wasn't something that he wanted Death to feel. However since the situation was what it was he couldn't help the question that slipped passed his lips before he could stop it.

“Now what?”

“Now you have three options, the same two as before, though I wouldn't recommend them and another one. Another one that usually I wouldn't even be able to think about giving you but considering the situation I belief it is the best option. I am able to send you back in time, with all your memories, all your knowledge, all your power. There are three points in history where I can drop you. To 1981, after the Cloak becomes officially yours, to 1994 before the beginning of the tournament because it's a turning point in your life one way or another, or to 1998 around the time of the final battle, since it's the first time that you have the Hallows. I am not able to give you specific dates since I won't be able to drop you somewhere specific, only an approximate time. You have to keep in mind that no matter what happens you won't change this present, dropping you somewhere in the past will split the time-line, it will create an alternate reality where everything, till the moment that you go back is identical to your previous life. After you join your younger body you are free to do whatever you wish, you won't have to worry about the time-line or anything like it.”

“Whatever I wish?” Harry asked, is voice calm, deadly, “Even if I wished to completely destroy the muggles?”

For a few seconds Death just looked at him, then a smiled appeared on his lips.

“It is your choice son. You could decide to burn the whole world to the ground and I wouldn't care. I know how much you suffered and I know how vindictive and cruel you can be. You may have been pure Light at the beginning of your life, but you aren't anymore. I do not doubt that you plan on making the muggles' lives hell. Besides I'm quite happy to know that you are planning to cause chaos and death.” Death replied, a cruel and sadistic smirk on his lips.

Harry chuckled darkly, Death may have parental feelings towards him but he didn't stop being _**Death**_ , a being that thrived on chaos and death.

“Well apparently I'm joining the family business. Chaos and death.”

Death laugh and the tenderness and pried in those darker than black eyes was undeniable.

“You don't know how much it means to me that you accepted this with such an opened mind.”

“At the beginning I felt such familiarity, I felt so comfortable. I couldn't understand why. It makes so much sense now. And though a part of me will always love my parents, another part of me can't help but feel happy that there is someone that will always be by my side and love me like a son. Even being seventy-six years old, it's such a comfort to know that I have a father that will stand by me no matter what. Even if I can't see you, I will know that you are there.”

“Can I assume that you will take the third option then?”

Harry nodded and Death laughed.

“Wonderful. We just have some things to clear up and then you will be ready to go.

First, now you are immortal, you will be going back to the body that corresponds to the point in time that you end up choosing. However when you turn twenty you will stop aging. Avada Kedavras do not affect you. Injuries heal faster, much faster, but if you suffer a fatal injury you will end up here. I will repair your body and you will be able to get back almost instantaneously. You also have the option to stay here of course, though I think that you will always choose to go back. Unless you want a break from the mortals.

Second, the Deathly Hallows are yours. They will be yours in whichever time you drop, so if you touch them they will respond to you and only you. And even if you throw them away they will appear on your person. You are the true master of the Hallows.

Third, I'm giving you a gift. You already had the possibility, but you were never trained, no one even knew that you had the ability as such it wasn't trained, remaining mostly dormant throughout your life. It is the reason why you survived the killing curse.

Your mother's sacrifice, while powerful, wouldn't have been powerful enough. Tough your ability combined with the sacrifice made it possible. You, my son, are an elemental. By your look I can see that you know what those are. Don't worry, my gift is complete control over your ability.

You will have all ten elements at your disposal. Water, Earth, Wind and Fire are only the base ones, those that everyone can use in some way. For example when a witch or wizard can cast stronger fire spells than water spells, or when they are particularly good at Herbology that is them tapping in to their elemental gift. Though true elementals have been thought to be extinct since the Founders of Hogwarts. The difference is that when trained elementals can control all ten elements. Aside from Water, Earth, Wind and Fire you have Lightning, Gravity, Light, Shadow, Life and Death. I ask you to be careful with Life and Death, even with complete control over your abilities those two are difficult to handle. Aside from that you have to be careful with your emotions. Like magic the elements will answer to your emotions, so if you don't want to raze a town to the ground in a fit of anger, you should try to have a bit of control over your emotions. Though if at first you aren't in complete control don't worry. You were always an emotional being, I don't expect, nor want, for you to stop being so.

Finally, you are my son. Now that you know you will change. It won't be much, only little things. Your hair will become darker, your skin paler. With time you won't need glasses. It won't change so much that people will notice if they aren't looking for it. Most will attribute it to you growing up and coming into your own. And it won't be overnight, so you don't have to worry about people thinking that something is wrong.

Now you just have to choose where you want to go son.”

“They all have advantages and disadvantages,” muttered Harry, more to himself than Death. Thinking about all that he could do, everything he could change, every ramification that his choice had. With a determined light in his eyes he looked at Death, the only being that had always been with him, the only one who would never judge him or expect something from him, his Father, “I know to when I want to go.”

“Very well,” Death said, smiling and getting up from his seat, “Then for the time being it's good-bye.”

Harry hesitate for a moment, then, slowly, he walked towards Death and hugged him. At first he felt insecure but when Death wrapped his arms around him Harry felt, for the first time in his life, what it was like to be hugged by a father. He may be over seventy, but he had always felt a hole in his heart, a hole where his parents were supposed to be and now he could feel his soul rejoicing to having his father back, even if he couldn't remember that it was Death that he had been missing.

“Can't we see each other again?” he asked, his voice no louder than a whisper, he felt like a child again, “Won't we able to talk?”

Death's arms tighten around him and he felt Death bury his head in his hair.

“Now that you know the truth we will be able to see and talk to each other every time you want. You will know how to call me. I may not be able to see you every day, but every time you need me I will be there.”

Harry nodded and let go of Death. With a small smile on his lips Death took a step back.

“Good luck my son.”

“Thank you father.” Harry replied then everything went black, if that hadn't been the case he would have seen the brilliant smile that had appeared on Death's face and the pride and love in his eyes.  


	2. A different kind of animal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer:This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J. K. Rowling. No money is being made.

* * *

**Chapter 2 – A different kind of animal**

 Harry saw only darkness for a few moments, then he felt like he was falling. It was like diving with his broom and Harry felt excited, flying had always been his passion. The one thing he could do when he was trying to leave his problems behind.

However the sensation stopped abruptly and light blinded him. It took a few moments for him to come to his senses, but he knew what must have happened. He was in his younger body.

He opened his eyes, he had closed them automatically because of the sudden brightness. Even so it hadn't been as bright as it could have been, he noticed that the Great Hall was darker than what he remembered. He was trying to remember when this was, but it was more difficult than he had thought. He just couldn't focus.

He was at Hogwarts! Hogwarts! He hadn't seen Hogwarts whole in almost fifteen years. He remembered as if it was yesterday the last time that he had seen Hogwarts. The castle had been in ruins, the muggles had launched an areal attack destroying a castle that had given a home to children for more than a thousand years. They didn't care that it was a school. On the contrary, the fact that it was a school had been the main reason why they had done it. After all if they destroyed the place where they were taught their freakish ways then the freaks wouldn't have a place to teach their children those abnormalities. At least that had been the reasoning from the muggles. They said they were saving the children. If they stopped the children from being abominations than maybe they could be saved, not in this life of course, they had to be killed for being born to freaks, but in the afterlife. Harry contained a snort. They were nothing more than fucking hypocrites. He hated them all.

He could still see the coffins that had filled the Hogwarts grounds, including the one of his daughter, Lily. His little girl had been so happy to go to Hogwarts with her brothers. They had thought that at Hogwarts at least they would be safe. How could they have known what the muggles would do. At least his sons had still been alive than. Their family still had hope, even if it was becoming bleaker by the second.

Only years of experience stopped him from showing any reaction when he saw who was sitting beside him. Hermione and Ron. The last time he had seen Hermione had been about ten years ago. Not even ten years of war made her stop believing and fighting for equality of all beings. She had been killed in an ambush. They said they wanted peace, that they were tired of fighting, that they wanted to find a solution, that they wanted to sign a peace treaty between the two races. They lied.

They send her body back to her family. One piece at a time.

Ron would have been better of if he had died with her. Ron stopped living. He joined all the raids he could find against the muggles. The more violent the better. Three years later he joined Hermione. He had been trapped in a muggle base, however before the muggles got him he was able to destroy the base, taking over three hundred muggles with him. Harry knew that was the way he had wanted to go. By the time that Ron died their family was reduced to Teddy, Fleur, Arthur, Fred II, George, Al, Rose and James. Everyone else had already died. Harry still believed that Ron went on that raid knowing that he wouldn't make it out alive. Not that Harry blamed him, he had buried his son the previous day.

In that moment, that instant in time that took for him to take everything in, he swore that he wouldn't let it happen again. No matter the cost. No matter how many _innocent_ , as if there was such a thing, muggles would suffer for something that hadn't yet and wouldn't happen. They would die and his kind would live. He would make sure of it.

Only seconds had passed since he opened his eyes, but to him it seemed like an eternity. Fortunately the whole Great Hall was focused on the professors table and they hadn't noticed his odd behavior. However before he could focus and try and remember why the hall was so quite, Harry heard Dumbledore's voice proclaim.

“The Hogwarts champion is Cedric Diggory!”

Harry heard Ron exclaim “No!”, but he paid it no mind. Now he knew when he was. Now he remembered the reason for the silence in the Great Hall. It was the night that the Goblet chose the champions. Harry hardly heard the applause, he didn't even notice when Dumbledore addressed the students again. Harry's eyes were fixed on the Goblet and just as Harry knew it would happen the fire burned red again and another slip of parchment was spat out. And just like Harry remembered it Dumbledore snatched it up and stared at the name on it for a few moments. There was a long pause, Dumbledore doing nothing but looking at the name on the parchment and everyone in the hall looking at Dumbledore. And then, what seemed like an eternity later, Dumbledore read the name that Harry knew would be on the parchment.

“Harry Potter.”

Just like last time everyone turned to look at him, there was no applause and the students started whispering. However that is where the similarities ended. Instead of sitting there in shock he got up and went towards the professors' table. He walked with confidence, sure of himself in a way he hadn't been when he was fourteen. He had a feline grace, something that he also lacked in his younger years. He was a completely different animal now and he had no intentions of hiding it. And since he was going to participate in the tournament he may as well take advantage of it.

It took less time than he remembered to reach the table and before he knew it he was in front of Dumbledore.

“Well... Go inside Harry.” Dumbledore told him without the usual twinkle in his eyes.

Harry, just like he did the first time, went through the door and found himself in a smaller room, full of paintings and a lit fireplace.

Viktor Krum, Cedric Diggory and Fleur Delacour were in a group near the fireplace and as soon as they heard him the turned to look at him.

“What is it?” Fleur asked, “Do zey want us back in ze Hall?”

Harry almost smiled when he remembered how flustered he was the first time.

“No.” he replied, he didn't miss the inquisitive look the other three threw him, however he said nothing else and a few moments later he heard noise behind him and Ludo Bagman appeared through the door. He took Harry by the arm and pulled him forward, not noticing or completely ignoring Harry's scowl.

“Extraordinary!” he exclaimed, squeezing Harry's arm, “Absolutely extraordinary! Gentlemen, Lady,” he added approaching the other three, “May I introduce, incredible though it may seem, the _fourth_ Triwizard champion!”

The three champions had the exact same reactions that Harry remembered.

Cedric looked between him and Bagman appearing rather confused.

Viktor looked at him suspiciously and seemed to be evaluating him to see if he posed any threat.

Fleur looked at him with contempt and threw a tantrum that would have made a three year old proud.

It was hard seeing that reaction. Fleur had been one of the last to die. One of the last to leave him. Seeing this girl, looking so much like her yet not, was almost as hard as seeing Ron and Hermione. Fleur hadn't looked so innocent and young in a long time. Not since the muggles took Victoire. Not since they found her body in the streets. Raped, bloodied and broken.

She had been so young, almost twenty-two, he was the only one that knew that her and Teddy had been talking about marriage. He was the only one that they had told. Victoire was the first of all of their children to fall to the muggles. She was the one that made all of their children hate muggles with a passion that rivaled that of the Death Eaters.

She was the beginning of their war, even though by that time the war had already been declared for going on two years. They were so fucking naïve back then. They still thought that they could solve things peacefully. By that time there hadn't been a lot of deaths yet. There had only been a few attacks, they still had hope. Losing Victoire was a catalyst for all of them.

The word _muggle_ was spoken with hate, they stopped venturing to the muggle world, they didn't even go to visit the Grangers, two people that all the children had always seen as their own grand-parents. It had broken Hermione's heart, but she understood, Victoire's death had pained her just as much.

Fortunately the door opened again and brought him out of his thoughts, now wasn't the time to drown in his memories. Dumbledore, followed by Crouch, Karkaroff, Maxime, McGonagall and Snape stepped inside.

“Madame Maxime!” said Fleur once she saw her Headmistress, “Zey are saying zat zis little boy is to compete also!”

Harry felt anger wash over him, he had forgotten that remark. He had to stop himself from telling her what the little boy thought about her behavior. For a moment or two he had been worried that he wouldn't be able to stop associating the people that were here now from the people he knew in the future that wasn't the future, at least not in the current time-line. However he was relieved to see that it would be rather easy. These people weren't like the ones that had lost everything, even themselves, to the horrors of war. It would be best if he just stayed away from them. If things turned out like the first time around then everyone would turn on him, he was quite sure that they would do the same this time. It would probably be more of a blessing if they did. He could stay away from them and at the same time do everything he could to keep them safe. Either way he doubted that they would want to have anything to do with him after they realize just what he became and what he was prepared to do to keep his people safe. He would be no better than Voldemort to them. He didn't care though. He would rather be reviled and know that he had done everything he could to keep them safe, than adored and see them die. Besides it would be far less painful for him to stay away from them. He had a family, he lost them, he couldn't save them. It would be unfair to them and to himself to stay with them. He would always expect to see the ones he had lost and he knew that these people no matter how similar weren't them. Ginny wasn't his wife and would never be. Ron wasn't his second in command and he wouldn't ask it of him. Hermione wasn't their healer. They were just children. Innocent, naïve children. Not broken, bitter adults.

Maxime's arrogance didn't help him in dealing with his temper. Something that was always so close to the surface the last few years. If there was one thing he hated it were pretentious people. They reminded him to much of the muggles that hunted them. That killed their children because they were an affront to God. He couldn't help but remember two muggles killing their own child because he was one of the _abominations_ , all the while preaching that they were doing God's will in that same arrogant tone, so full of conviction. It made him want to kill them all over again. If only they had arrived just a few seconds earlier they would have been able to save the child. He lost count of the number of muggle-borns that suffered the same fate. Far more than those they were able to save. But in the end it didn't really matter, did it? Everyone had died.

He closed his eyes for a second, trying to not let the memories overwhelm him then looked around the room. He had missed most of Maxime's ranting but Karkaroff was all to happy to continue where she had stopped. He must have been trying to scare Harry in to submission whit that look. Not that it was having much of an effect, he had seen far worse.

However his luck couldn't last and Snape had always known how to push his buttons. He had completely forgotten what he had said all those years ago, till that moment.

“It is no one's fault but Potter's, Karkaroff,” said Snape softly, his black eyes alight with malice, “Don't go blaming Dumbledore for Potter's determination to break rules. He has been crossing lines ever since he arrived here...”

It wasn't even the worst that Snape had said to him or about him, but something just broke. The first time it had been Dumbledore who stopped him but not this time. The temperature in the room dropped drastically, not even the fire in the fireplace was able to heat the room, and the shadows around the room seemed to grow and almost looked like they gained a life of their own.

Those in the room looked around, trying to see what was wrong. It didn't surprise Harry in the least that Dumbledore was the first to identify him as the source of the disturbance. The others seeing where Dumbledore was looking at followed his gaze. Seeing more than one pair of eyes open wide brought him some satisfaction, even though he had no idea why they were looking at him like that.

Harry couldn't see himself, but if he could he would understand their reaction. The floor where he was standing was frozen, forming a strange snowflake pattern that had his body as the center. The shadows seemed to dance around him, clinging to his body like a second skin. His eyes almost shined in the dimly lit room. Harry would never know that the first thing that Dumbledore, Snape and Karkaroff thought was: _Voldemort_.

True, aside from the dark hair they didn't look alike, but their stance was almost identical. Harry had that same air of confidence around him, that same feel of power. That same cruel, insane edge that Voldemort had. He looked far darker than they had ever seen him and for just a second Dumbledore and Snape wondered if Harry had finally been pushed to far.

With deliberate slow and smooth movements Harry took out his wand. He didn't miss the fact that several hands twitched towards their wands. He almost smiled when he saw it. They feared him. He was sure that in the future they would fear him even more.

“I, Hadrian James Potter, swear on my magic that I did not put, nor did I ask anyone else to put my name in the Goblet of Fire. So mote it be.”

A soft golden light wrapped around him for a few moments, when it dissipated Harry murmured, “ _Lumos_.” and light shone out of his wand.

Locking eyes with the potions Master he inquired in a deliberate emotionless voice.

“Now that it is all cleared up, may I go? I have better things to do than to see children fighting over their new toy.”

Maxime, Karkaroff and Fleur blushed slightly, though their glare didn't lessen. However before they could say anything an inhuman scream filled the room and they all turned around in time to see Snape fall over. It didn't last longer than five seconds and none of them saw the smirk that appeared on Harry's face before it was replaced by a confused and apprehensive look.

Harry knew that the temptation to look into his mind would be overwhelming for Snape and as soon as Harry felt the legilimency prob he grabbed Snape's conscious and doubling the sensation of the Cruciatus curse flung it into Snape's mind. And what made him want to cackle was the fact that Snape could do nothing about it. If he did he would have to admit that he had been using legilimency on a minor, which would get him a one way ticket to Azkaban.

Even after so many years he couldn't stand the man. Sure he had named his son after him, but it hadn't been his idea. However everyone in the family was in one way or another named after someone or something related to the war and his children were no exception. He had named his firstborn James Sirius, in honor of his father and godfather. Ginny had wanted to name the second child and knowing what she did about the war she choose Albus and Severus, two of the greatest war heroes. He will never understand why she did it. Albus, the man that was supposed to be his mentor but used him as a weapon, sometimes he couldn't help but wonder if Albus had truly every seen him as anything but the end of Voldemort. He didn't really hate the man, but he didn't know if he could ever see the man as anything other than the one who would kill him for the ' _Greater Good_ '. Severus, the man that despised him for simply existing. Sure he may have loved his mother, but he would never fool himself in to thinking that Snape held anything but contempt for him. He could understand if tit was because of something he had done but he knew that it was purely because he was James' son. At least at the beginning. He could admit that as the years went by Snape's hate could have changed from hating him because he was James's son, to hating him because of everything he had done over the years. He had wondered if Snape was jealous of him. They were rather similar, but while Snape had been bullied and hated for being who he was, Harry had been pitied, adored and worshiped. It would be reason enough for the man to become even more bitter towards anything named Potter. Even so he couldn't really say no, both men were heroes and everyone assumed that he had made peace with what had happened. Really it could have been worse, she could have named him Tom. Though knowing what he knew now, maybe it would have been better.

However, the fact remained that he did not like the man and he didn't think that he ever would. Even after the memories that Snape showed him he didn't really know which side Snape had been on. Harry wouldn't be surprised if Snape was only loyal to himself. Becoming useful to both sides was an easy way to make sure that whichever side won he came out on top. He admitted that it was clever but it didn't make him like Snape any more than he did.

He had far more respect for certain Death Eaters than he did for Snape. The Death Eaters at least fought for what they believed in. Sure, some were so far gone that they didn't really care about what they killed for, but he wasn't talking about those.

He knew that some of his disdain came from the years of war that he had gone through. But it was impossible to look back at Snape's role and not see the similarities to some wizards and witches that betrayed their own kind to the muggles, so that they could live. They had played both sides, giving a little here, a little there. They were useful enough to both sides that they stayed alive and when it became clear that there was no chance of the magical beings surviving they showed their true colors. He hated them even more than the muggles and took great pleasure in getting all the information about the muggles that they had out of them, most were in worst state than the Longbottoms when he was done with them.

“Severus! Severus, what happened?” Dumbledore's voice brought him out of his thoughts and he could see that they were all looking at Snape apprehensively.

“Severus!” Dumbledore's voice was once again heard throughout the room.

“I'm fine!” Snape almost snarled, getting up with some difficulty and even though he tried to hide it it was impossible to not notice the trembling in his hands.

“What happened?” Dumbledore inquired gravely and Harry could see the interest in the others. They didn't care about Snape, they weren't worried, they just wanted a show. McGonagall was the only one who looked truly concerned about Snape. This time he didn't have to feign the curiosity, he wondered what Snape would do.

Snape's eyes landed on him for a fraction of second and he wasn't able to suppress the slightly sadistic smirk that appeared on his lips. Snape's eyes opened a little wider and he became even paler. Snape tore his eyes away from him and looked at Dumbledore. The whole interaction didn't last longer than a second and no one noticed anything.

“It was nothing!” snarled Snape, trying to sound intimidating. Harry thought that if he wasn't so pale and shaking it would have worked far better.

Dumbledore didn't seemed satisfied with that answer, however he didn't push his Potions Master. Apparently he knew that he wouldn't get anything else out of him, at least not with so many people around. Harry had the feeling that Dumbledore would ambush Snape with offers of lemon drops sometime soon and try to weasel information out of him. That almost made him pity the Potions Master, almost.

Seeing that nothing more was going to happen Harry broke the somewhat uncomfortable silence.

“Can I go know? Since I already proved that I didn't enter myself.”

Harry knew that he couldn't, he knew that he had to participate but he had a role to play. They all turned around to look at him and Harry almost sighed. Karkaroff and Maxime were looking at him with rage in their eyes, as if it was all his fault. Even though he had proved that it hadn't been him. Apparently they were determined to blame him no matter what, not that it bothered him all that much. Human stupidity had ceased to surprise him several years back. He did however want to get all of it over with, did they think he had nothing better to do? He did in fact have better things to do. Killing around five or six billion muggles being one of those things.

He ignored everyone around him and focused on Bagman, waiting for him to answer his question. Bagman cleaned his childlike face with a handkerchief and looked at Crouch, who was lurking in the shadows. He had forgotten how creepy the man looked. He vaguely wondered if Barty Jr. looked like his mother, he looked far cuter than his father at least. Even when he was being a little crazy psychopath he managed to look rather cute and much less creepy than his dear old dad.

“We have to follow the rules,” Crouch stated in a monotone, “And they clearly state that all the people who's name comes out of the Goblet of Fire have to compete in the tournament.”

“Well, Barty knows the rules back and forth.” Bagman said, smiling openly and turning around to Maxime and Karkaroff as if that was everything there was to say about the matter.

“I insist on adding the names of my students to the Goblet again,” he looked a little demented in Harry's opinion, though he kind of understood where he came from. Karkaroff wanted to win against Dumbledore. Both he and Maxime wanted to prove that Hogwarts wasn't the best school, they wanted to prove that they were better than Dumbledore. Though he supposed that Karkaroff's intentions were far more malicious than Maxime's, with him being an ex-Death Eater and all. Maybe ex-Death Eater wasn't the correct term, dead Death Eater sounded much better. “We will continue to put our students' names in the Goblet till all the schools have two Champions, it's only fair Dumbledore.”

“But, Karkaroff, the Goblet doesn't work like that,” Bagman tried to explain, “The Goblet of Fire has just gone out, it won't reignite until the start of the next tournament.”

“In which Durmstrang won't be participating!” exclaimed Karkaroff, “After all our meetings and negotiations and compromises, I did not expect something of this nature to occur! I have half a mind to leave now!”

“Empty threat, Karkaroff," growled a voice from near the door. "You can't leave your champion now. He's got to compete. They've all got to compete. Binding magical contract, like Dumbledore said. Convenient, eh?"

Moody had just entered the room. He limped toward the fire, and with every right step he took, there was a loud clunk.

Harry almost cackled. Barty was back. He didn't really know how, but he would have to take advantage of having one of Voldemort's loyal Death Eaters so close at hand. He would have so much fun tormenting Barty a little. Still Barty could be a valuable resource. Maybe he could use him to contact Voldemort. If there was one thing he knew for sure it was that he needed to contact Voldemort, preferably before he performed the ritual. From what he had learned that ritual was one of the reason why Voldemort lost so much of his sanity. But now he could make Voldemort a body, which wouldn't drive him more insane the longer he had it. However he would have to talk with him first. He didn't want to fight Voldemort, they wanted the same thing this time around. He just had to convince him that it would be better for Voldemort not to try and kill him, who knew maybe they could bond over some muggle torture. There was nothing like a good old fashioned torture session to bring people together, or at least to bring two powerful bloodthirsty dark wizards together. They could be good allies, as long as Voldemort didn't expect him to grovel at his feet.

“Convenient?" said Karkaroff. "I'm afraid I don't understand you, Moody.”

Harry vaguely recalled the conversation that followed and he had to admit that Barty was an excellent actor and had far more self-control than Harry. If it were him he would have killed Karkaroff the moment he saw him, specially if he had been responsible for sending a fellow Death Eater to Azkaban.

When Fleur started to go on and on about fame and glory. That there was no reason for Harry to complain since he was going to get both and there was a thousand galleon price if he won, he wasn't able to contain the laugh that he had been holding back. It wasn't overly loud but it echoed in the room, giving it a slightly eery feeling and gained everyone's attention. His smile didn't reach his eyes and his expression clearly showed the disdain he had for most people in the room.

“Eternal fame and glory?” he asked, lifting an eyebrow, “Tell me Fleur, what are the names of the last three Champions to have participated in this little tournament? Or just the winner really?”

There were several moments that no one said anything and Harry's eyes never left Fleur's. When a minute went by and Fleur still hadn't said anything a somewhat cruel smirk appeared on Harry's face.

“Hmm, apparently eternity doesn't last as long as I thought.” his voice was the perfect mixture of pure innocence and sarcasm. Harry caught Barty containing a smirk and he almost chuckled. It looked like Barty was finding the situation as amusing as Harry. 

Unfortunately Fleur wasn't finding the situation half as funny as them. She actually stomped her foot on the ground and almost shouted, “You could still win the thousand galleon prize money.”

Harry chuckled and looked at her as if she was nothing more than a troublesome child.

“I am Hadrian James Potter, Heir to the Potter House and last living Potter. My inheritance makes the Malfoys look poor. A thousand galleons is nothing but pocket change to me. As you can see I have absolutely no interest in this tournament. Besides, I already proved, without a shadow of a doubt, that I did not enter the tournament. Now, could we get this done with? I have better things to do than standing here and see people throwing temper tantrums.” he asked, looking at Bagman, the one supposedly responsible about all things tournament related.

“We do not know how this situation came to be,” Dumbledore said, talking to everyone in the room, “It seems to me that he have no other choice but to accept it. Both Cedric and Harry have been chosen to compete in this tournament, so that is what they will do.”

“Ah, but Dumbly-dorr...”

“My dear Madame Maxime, if you have an alternative, I would be delighted to hear it.”

Dumbledore waited, but Madame Maxime did not speak, she merely glared. She wasn't the only one either. Snape looked furious; Karkaroff livid; Bagman, however, looked rather excited. Harry didn't really care one way or the other, what mattered to him was that they were finally progressing with the whole thing.

The rest of the conversation went by just as he remembered and only a few minutes later he was alone with Cedric, heading towards their common rooms. Harry was pondering what he would do next when Cedric broke the comfortable silence.

“I will tell the rest of the Hufflepuffs that you didn't enter the tournament, I'll tell them that you toke an Oath.”

Harry glanced at him from the corner of his eyes. Last time Cedric hadn't believed him, no matter how much he told him that he hadn't entered. He supposed that the Oath made it rather obvious that he hadn't done it. What he wouldn't have given to have known that the first time around, it would have saved him a lot of trouble.

“You don't have to.” Harry assured him. He was rather curious in seeing how things would differ this time around.

“I know that I don't have to, but you will have one less problem to deal with this way. I think that not everyone will believe that you didn't enter the tournament, but at least this way you won't have any trouble with the Puffs. Some may not like it, but they won't blame you.”

Harry smiled, “Thank you. I'll see you later, yeah?” he said, walking towards the stairs, “Oh, by the way, congratulations.” he added turning around to smile at Cedric.

“Thanks Potter.” he replied, a boyish smile on his face and Harry vowed that he would make sure that Cedric survived the damn thing. If things went as he wanted then there wouldn't even be a graveyard involved this time around.

He wasn't surprised when he saw that the Gryffindors' reaction was the same as the first time. On one hand he thought that maybe it would be best like this, maybe it was best that they drifted apart, he didn't think that his friends would agree with his plans, no matter how vague they were at the moment. He would miss them. But he knew that they wouldn't condone what he wanted to do. Specially Hermione.

If he kept repeating it, then maybe he would actually believe it. He knew that a part of him was still grieving. That bit of him didn't want to be near them. He didn't want to see them and see the people he had known. But he had always been a Gryffindor no matter how much Slytherin he had in him, so he didn't want to take the cowards route and avoid them. However nothing stopped him from employing his Slytherin side and finding ways to make them avoid him.

On another hand a part of him was bursting with joy, his friends, his family, they were alive! Alive and whole and he would make damn sure that they continued to stay that way.

He went to bed with a small, satisfied smile. He may not know what the future held but it couldn't be worse than the present he had left. He knew that there were a number of things that could go wrong. He knew that he still had the whole situation with Voldemort to deal with. And he couldn't forget about Dumbledore either, no matter what he didn't think that Dumbledore would just sit by and watch the muggles being killed. But that didn't matter at the moment. He didn't think that he would find a solution to all of it right at that moment. Besides it had been years since he had slept in a bed. He could go to sleep knowing that the world would still be there in the morning. It was a thought that he hadn't had for quite some time. 


	3. Strange alliance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J. K. Rowling. No money is being made.

****

* * *

**Chapter 3 – Strange alliance**

When Harry woke up the next morning it took him a few moments to remember why he was lying in a bed and not in some forest floor. When he remembered he couldn't stop the cackle from escaping his lips. Either he had completely lost his mind or the previous night had truly happened.

There was only one way to be certain. Not that he didn't want it to be true, but he needed to make sure, he needed that small assurance. He needed to call Death. Just to be absolutely sure that he hadn't lost his mind. There was only a little problem, how did he call Death?

"Hello Harry."

"Shit!" Harry swore, almost jumping out of his skin. There, sitting on the edge of his bed, was Death. Harry glared at him when he laughed.

"Did you want something?" his eyes had that same warmth in them that Harry remembered from the previous night.

"I... I just needed to be sure." murmured Harry, momentarily forgetting his annoyance at being startled. "I don't know what to do. I know what I want, but I don't really know where to start. What if I do something wrong? What if the world is destroyed again?"

"Then it is." Death replied calmly, "The only thing that made me angry with the previous world's destruction was that you suffered. I am Death, Harry. The death of a planet is not something that saddens me. If you destroy this planet then we will move on to another one. It is as simple as that. You are no longer mortal, you are still a wizard, a human, but you are not mortal. For beings like us, the death of one planet is something quite insignificant."

Harry nodded. It made sense. Death had told him that he would outlive anyone and everything, he couldn't afford to let every single death affect him. Sooner or later it would drive him crazy, well crazier.

"I think I just needed a little push to accept that." whispered Harry, leaning back on his headboard. "I know you told me yesterday but I think I was to shocked to really understand what you were saying."

"It is understandable my son." Death assured him, a small smile on his lips, "Have you decided what to do then?"

"Speaking with Voldemort is the first thing on the list." Harry answered immediately.

"Do you have to?" Death grumbled and Harry chuckled when he saw his mulish expression.

"I thought that you would like him. Considering all the destruction, chaos and death that he causes I would have guessed that he was one of your favorite people."

"And he is." Death muttered, "I would just like him better if he stayed away from you, that's all."

It had never crossed his mind, but if it had, he was sure that he wouldn't have imagined Death as such a caring father.

"Thank you." Harry told him, making Death look at him curiously.

"For what?"

"Everything."

Death's eyes were filled with so much affection that Harry's breath caught in his throat. Slowly Death raised his hand, he gave Harry time to move away, when Harry didn't move he caressed his cheek and smiled at him.

"Anything for you, my son."

Harry felt his heart fill with happiness. He had waited a lifetime to hear those words and now he would have eternity to enjoy them.

The moment between them was broken when they heard someone coming towards the dorm.

"Call me if you need anything." Death told him and just when the door was opening he vanished.

Hermione walked in, she had a few toasts in her hand and looked slightly peeved.

"Good morning Hermione." he greeted her and she smiled at him, her annoyance vanishing when she saw him in such a good mood.

"Good morning. I thought that you would want to avoid the Great Hall this morning."

"Is it that bad?" he asked. He had been hopeful that things would have been better this time around.

"The Hufflepuffs, surprisingly enough, are angry about the situation but not with you. Most of those in sixth and seventh year are worried about you, especially those that wanted to participate. They read about the previous tournaments and tasks. The Ravenclaws are split, the older ones have no doubt that you did not enter, especially because you swore it on your magic. But the younger ones, especially the girls, support Cedric and think you are lying. The Slytherins... Well the Slytherins are the same as always. Gryffindor is one hundred percent behind you, at least most of them."

"Ron?" he asked and Hermione nodded. Harry wasn't the least bit surprised. Even thought he believed that Harry hadn't entered the tournament the jealousy was just too strong, "It's alright. I was expecting it."

"I don't understand why he's reacting this way." Hermione exclaimed sounding more frustrated than angry, "He knows that you didn't enter your name."

"Jealousy." Harry replied, "Ron always had an inferiority complex, this was just the breaking point. I think you should be with him. No, listen to me," Harry said forcefully when Hermione opened her mouth, "He's jealous, if you stay with me he will assume that you chose me over him. That will only increase the jealousy. Stay with him, let him calm down and then we'll see."

"What about you?" she asked him after a few moments.

"Well, today I'm going to find a secluded place and hide out. Tomorrow I'll go to the library to see what I can find about the tournament and see if I can find any hint about what the first task could be."

Reluctantly Hermione nodded.

"Alright, but only for a few days, then I'm helping you." Harry knew that there was no use arguing when she used that tone, so he just nodded. Hermione hugged him and left the dorm, muttering about beating some sense into red haired prats.

As soon as the door closed Harry slumped back on his bed. It was easier than he had thought to talk with Hermione. The talk he had with his father had helped. His Hermione was dead and this one would die too. He was immortal. He would live on long after she died. It didn't mean that he didn't miss his Hermione and that he didn't mourn her but he wouldn't let it consume him. The only thing he could do was to make sure that this Hermione had a better life than his did and if possible a longer life as well.

His father. It was so strange to think that. He had never even thought that he would be able to think it. He liked it, he liked it a lot. He may be over seventy years old but Death was eons of years older. He was a child compared to Death, or maybe a toddler. Besides, after everything that he went through he had the right to be selfish, to want something for himself and he had always wanted a father. Why should he deny himself something that he had always craved?

Nodding to himself he got up, he had a lot of things to do, he may as well take advantage of the alone time he had.

* * *

Harry whistled while he walked down the road. It had been far easier to get there than he had thought, not that he was complaining, it had made his life much easier.

Sneaking out was almost child's play, considering that there were no extra security measures because they weren't at war, then a ride on the Knight Bus and voilá.

Looking around to make sure that he was alone he sneaked inside the house. It was in a far worse state than he had thought, but considering the owners condition it didn't surprise him that he didn't have the time to clean it up a bit.

Walking up the stairs he went towards what he thought was a home office and opened the door.

"Hello Tom."

The next moment a familiar green light filled his vision.

* * *

"Son, just because you can't be killed doesn't mean you shouldn't dodge when you see the killing curse coming your way."

Harry opened his eyes and looked around. He was in the same office he had woken up when the muggle had killed him. Smiling sheepishly he got up from the couch he was lying on.

"Apparently Voldemort wasn't all that pleased to see me."

"Really? You don't say, who would have thought?"

The corners of Harry's mouth twitched.

"I thought that Avada Kedavras wouldn't affect me." he looked curiously at Death. Though he was slightly out of it the previous night he remembered that bit quite well.

"They don't. However you aren't used to it, so until you know how to really handle your powers you will most likely end up here. Though as you know I can send you back to right after you were hit so to people it would look like nothing happened at all. Once you know how to control your power you won't need me to send you back. You can be hit with the killing curse and continue to do whatever you were doing as if nothing happened." Death replied and Harry nodded. "You won't change your mind about this Voldemort business, will you?" Death asked looking resigned and Harry shook his head.

He wanted things with Voldemort to work out. Not only would it be better to have an ally to kill of around five billion muggles but Tom was brilliant. He didn't want for a mind like Tom's to be lost to insanity, not now that he knew how to stop it.

"There is something I have to ask you," Death told him, sounding more serious and Harry raised an eyebrow, "Now that you are back in your younger body, you still have the Horcrux in your scar. Do you want me to remove it?"

"No!" Harry answered immediately. Death looked at him and Harry became a bit flustered, "I want to keep it," he added almost defensively, "If Tom wants it I'll place it in another receptacle, but in the mean time I'll keep it."

"You missed it." Death stated with knowing eyes and Harry blushed slightly, cursing his pale complexion, "It is understandable." Death assured him, "It was a part of you for the formative years of your live. It was a time you were almost defenseless and even though you did not know it was there, your subconscious knew you were not alone. It gave you a lot of comfort when you were in the cupboard under the stairs."

Harry looked down, not able to stand the look in those knowing eyes. Some part of him had already known that he had missed the Horcrux, but it was different having it spoken out loud by someone else. How fucked up must he be to miss a piece of soul from someone who wants to kill him? It certainly didn't bode well for his mental stability. Not that he cared about it now, but it did make him wonder how things would have turned out if war hadn't broken out with the muggles. Would insanity have claimed him too if he had lived a normal life? Was his desire to cause chaos and death because he wanted revenge or was it something that had always been there but that he had ignored? All in all those things didn't matter now, but he couldn't help but wonder.

"Do you want to go back now?" Death asked an understanding smile on his lips and Harry looked back up.

"Yes, but let a few seconds pass for him to organize his thoughts."

"I doubt that a few seconds will do much good." Death chuckled and Harry laughed, then everything went black and he felt himself fall.

* * *

Voldemort was looking at the body on the floor of his office incredulously. He closed his eyes for a few moments then opened them again. The body was still there. There went the possibility of it being an hallucination.

He had killed Harry Potter. Disregarding the fact that Potter was in his house, he had always thought that when he finally killed Harry Potter it would be more exciting. Probably in front of a crowd, to destroy their hope. This confrontation, if one could call it that, was rather anticlimactic.

Then something happened that he didn't think was possible.

Potter groaned and sat up.

Instinctively he shoot another killing curse at him, hitting him in the chest. Potter fell over, again. _After_ getting up when he had only moments before been hit with a killing curse _._ This would be the third time he had hit Potter with an _Avada Kedavra_ , what was that muggle saying again? Third time is the charm, or something like it, wasn't it? Maybe now Potter would do the socially accepted thing and actually stay dead after being hit with the killing curse.

For a few moments he could do nothing but stare. He couldn't believe that he was actually thinking about muggle sayings. Maybe he _was_ losing his mind. Spending thirteen years as a spirit couldn't be good for one's sanity.

* * *

"Back again?" Death asked and Harry could hear the amusement in his voice, he didn't even need to look at him to know he was smirking.

"Yeah, yeah." he grumbled, "Send me back already."

The last thing he heard before everything went dark was Death's laughter.

* * *

Voldemort didn't know if he should be surprised or not when Potter got back up. He controlled his first instinct of hitting him again with a killing curse. Didn't people say that the height of insanity was doing the same thing over and over again and expect different results? So he just observed Potter and tried to understand what was going on, because clearly Potter didn't have the decency to be an hallucination or to just _stay_ dead.

"I swear to Merlin, if you don't stop hitting me with killing curses I'm going to slap you silly." Potter snapped, standing up. "Can we talk or are you going to continue with the _Avada Kedavras_?"

Voldemort just continued to look at him incredulously. Well, he had already ruled out an hallucination, but he _could_ be dreaming. There was always that possibility, he could hope. Dear sweet Merlin, _why_ couldn't he be an hallucination? It would be so much easier if he were an hallucination. It would be easier to explain too.

"I'm going to take that as a positive answer." Potter told him and sat in the armchair in front of his desk.

They were silent for a few moments, till Voldemort finally convinced himself that Potter was not, no matter how much he wished he was, an hallucination or a dream.

"Potter." he said, for lack of anything else. What could he say really? Do you want some tea? Oh by the way, why do you not just stay dead?

"Yes?" Potter asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What are you doing here?" That was a good question to start with, then he could follow it with others, such as: _How did you know where I was?_ And the most important in his opinion: _Why don't you stay dead?_

"Truthfully I'm here because of three reasons." Potter replied looking rather calm for someone who was sitting in front of a Dark Lord who wanted to kill him. "First I came here to stop you from making a big mistake. Second I came here to give you your body back. Third I came here to tell you a story."

He stared at Potter for a few seconds then started to laugh. Maybe Potter was the one who had lost his mind.

"And what do you want in exchange for giving me my body back and for stopping me from making a big mistake." sarcasm saturated every word.

"I just want you to listen to me. I will even swear on my magic that what I'll tell you is nothing but the truth as I know it. You have nothing to lose in accepting."

He narrowed his eyes and tried to enter Potter's mind, only to find occlumency shields as strong as his. Surprised he studied Potter intentionally and now that he was actually looking at him he could see it. It was well hidden but he could see it. Power. Dark, seductive, deadly. This Potter was nothing like the light puppet he had meet three years ago.

"Are you being serious?" he asked, because now he was curious. There was something different about Potter and he wanted to know what it was.

"I came here, didn't I? If I wasn't, I wouldn't have come."

"Very well," he agreed, hardly believing what was coming out of his mouth. "What is this mistake that I am going to make?" he couldn't help but let a bit of sarcasm slip into his voice.

"The ritual for your resurrection." Potter told him, completely ignoring his sarcasm, "I know that you think that it is the only way to get your body back, now that the Philosopher's Stone is destroyed. And it seems like it'll work out rather well, but in the long run it won't. The unicorn blood, unwillingly given, will curse you. It will take from you what you value most. It's funny, for a while I believed that it was your life or your magic but it's actually your mind. If you proceed with the ritual, in three years time you will be so far gone that you do not even realize that you have already won, you will not even savor your victory and you will let your little sycophants destroy everything you ever fought for. You will obsess with one thing and ignore everything else. It will destroy you."

Voldemort wanted nothing more than to deny it and hit Potter with an _Avada Kedavra_. He didn't do it though, as he had seen before _Avada Kedavra_ did nothing to the brat, aside from that he really wanted to know how Potter knew about the ritual. He had told no one what the ritual was or what he would need to use it. So how could Potter know?

"Why are you telling me that?" he asked, trying to understand this strange Potter sitting in front of him, "If it is going to destroy me, why are you trying to stop me? Isn't my destruction something that you wish? And how did you know where to find me?"

"I think it is rather obvious that I do not wish for your destruction, I want you to get a body back. The reason I want it is one of the things I have to tell you as well as how I knew where to find you. The question now is: do you want me to give you your body back?"

He really wanted to force Potter to tell him, but he didn't think it would work. Besides Potter did say that he would tell him everything. He knew that he should kill Potter and be done with it, but, not even taking into account that the killing curse didn't seem to work on him and he had no idea if something else would work, he was curious. He wanted to know what had changed. Potter was so different, people didn't change that much in three years, their magic didn't change that much in three years. Besides the promise of a new body was rather tempting. He didn't see how Potter intended to do it, but what had he to lose?

"Alright." he replied and Potter smiled.

"Excellent. It's the first time that I'm going to do it, but don't worry, theoretically I know how it works."

Before he could tell Potter that that wasn't particularly reassuring he felt something surrounding him and felt his soul being torn from his body. For a fraction of a second he felt nothing but fear. He didn't want to go back to be a wandering spirit, he hated it. He couldn't be that vulnerable again. Then the rage came. How could he have been so stupid! Why had he trusted Potter? He knew that people weren't to be trusted. How could he have allowed such a weakness. However before he could get lost in his hate and fear he felt something surrounding him again. He could feel a body around his soul, it was tiny, no bigger than an embryo, but he could feel it grow and develop. In about five minutes he was as big as a five year old child and he kept growing every second. He could do nothing but look at Potter incredulously.

Twenty minutes later the magic surrounding him left and he had to grip his desk so that he wouldn't fall. He was still looking at Potter who was sitting in the armchair, panting and with sweat dripping down his face.

"You are an elemental." he whispered roughly, his vocal cords appeared to need a little time to adjust. However that didn't really matter now. What mattered was that Potter, _Potter_ , was an elemental! How was that possible? Weren't they extinct? How could Potter be one and be able to control his powers? Did Dumbledore know? If he did, it was no wonder that he wanted to use Potter as a weapon. Elementals were rumored to be pure power. They embodied the power of nature in it's purest form. Even the weakest elemental could destroy a small town in a fit of anger. If Potter was one it didn't really surprise him that the prophecy said he had the power to defeat him. He looked at the small form slumped over on the armchair and a hunger he hadn't felt in a long time filled him.

Potter looked at him, his eyes widened and he looked away.

"Er... Could you, you know, conjure some clothes for you?" Potter asked, looking anywhere but at him and he smirked. Who would have thought that Potter was so... _innocent_.

He picked up his wand, that had fallen to the floor and conjured a mirror, not at all in a hurry to conjure some clothes. He never had a problem with nudity, he didn't walk around naked, but he was comfortable in his own skin. Besides he rather enjoyed seeing Potter so flustered. Call it payback for causing him so much trouble. Well, it was time to see just what body Potter had given him.

He really wasn't expecting what he saw. He was looking at a twenty something Tom Marvolo Riddle. With all the rituals he had done he had lost his looks. It was something that he had accepted because no matter how useful his looks may have been he valued magic more. However looking at a mirror and seeing himself again felt quite good. He didn't know how much he had missed it till that moment. Though his eyes were still blood red. He was glad that those had stayed the same. His red eyes were _him_.

With a flick of his wand he conjured some clothes and turned around. A smirk appeared on his lips again when he saw that Potter still wasn't looking at him.

"You can turn around Potter." he told him, sitting on the armchair behind the desk. The magical constructed homunculus had turned to dust the moment his soul had left it. When the magic holding it together was gone it crumbled. "I'm waiting." he told Potter when he saw that Potter was just looking at him.

Potter sighed and nodded.

"Alright. I'm just going to do the magical oath." Potter told him taking his wand out, "I, Hadrian James Potter, swear on my magic that what I am about to tell Tom Marvolo Riddle is the truth as I know it, so mote it be." a soft golden light surrounded Potter for a few seconds then it slowly dissipated.

"As you must know, before I was born there was a prophecy made that Snape partially overheard and told you about. You know perfectly well what happened next so there is no need to go over it. What you don't know, what nobody knows, is how I survived. Until recently I didn't know either, but we will get to that in a little bit. Dumbledore assumed that my mother's sacrifice had saved me, so to keep me protected he left me with my mother's sister and created bloodwards. I spent the next ten years after that as a slave for those disgusting muggles, sleeping in the cupboard under the stairs. Not knowing what I was, who I was."

"What?" Voldemort snarled, "How dare they mistreat a magical child! They should be killed!"

"Feel free to kill them." Harry told him, slightly surprised with his reaction. Though maybe he shouldn't be. They had similar childhoods and this Voldemort still had his mind. From what he had learned about Voldemort after the war, before his fall he had never harmed children. It was true that there were children killed in raids, but they were never tortured and the children were only killed if the objective was to kill the whole family. It didn't happen all that often. He had been the exception and even then Voldemort had only hit him with the killing curse, no torture, no nothing. After everything he had seen he believed that the killing curse was a rather merciful way to kill someone. No pain, just death. Painless and fast.

He wasn't sorry about handing the Dursleys over to Tom on a silver platter either. He had never forgiven Petunia and Vernon for what they had done to their own grand-daughter when they found out she was magical. The little girl had been born a year or two before the war started and had her first case of accidental magic when she was six years old. Vernon and Petunia were taking care of her for the day because Dudley had been at work and her mother had been sick with the flu. They saw it happen. The bastards sold the little girl to a laboratory that wanted to make experiments on wizards and witches, by that time magical beings were seen as nothing more than animals by most people. The staff was quite happy to pay the Dursleys for her. He only knew about it because Dudley had called him, begging him to save Violet, his baby girl.

By the time they found her it was already to late. She had been with them only for a little over two days. It was unbelievable the amount of damage they had been able to do in such a short time. It had been far more merciful to end her suffering.

A week later the bodies of Petunia and Vernon were found, shot in the head. Dudley walked into the lab with a bomb strapped to his chest. He took the whole building down and more than half the staff. They found a letter addressed to his wife. From what he learned latter on he said that he did not want to live in a world where a sweet little girl, his innocent little flower, could be tortured just because she was different and people found it normal. He had said that if that was being normal than he would rather be a freak. Truthfully that was the only moment he could remember being proud of his cousin.

"I thought you were a muggle lover." Voldemort remarked, bringing him out of his thoughts.

"You thought wrong." Potter replied, his eyes cold. The shadows around him seemed to gain a life of their own and he felt the temperature drop suddenly, the whole atmosphere had an oppressing feeling.

Voldemort observed the change fascinated. He had read about how an elemental's emotions affected the elements, however one thing was reading about it, another completely different thing was actually seeing it. It was no wonder that elementals were as feared as they were and had been hunted to extinction. It disgusted him knowing what people did in name of the Light. Out of fear they labeled elementals as dark beings and hunted them down. They were powerful, but not all powerful. It varied, just like a wizard's power. They completely ignored the fact that all wizards were in some way elementals too, not true elementals like Potter was, but they were tied to the elements as well. It was true that true elementals were dangerous, but so were wizards. The hypocrisy of it sickened him. Power like the one Potter had should be treasured, not feared and hated.

Potter took a deep breath and everything went back to normal. He didn't take his eyes of Potter. That hunger was back. He wanted that power.

"You know what happened in my first year, you were there. In my second year I meet you again."

"No, you didn't." Voldemort interrupted.

"Yes, I did. Not you specifically but a version of you. Sixteen year old you, trapped in a diary."

He tensed and when he saw Potter's knowing eyes he snarled and pointed his wand at him.

"What did you do to it?"

"I destroyed it." Potter told him calmly and he had difficulty controlling his rage. "Calm down," Potter said, frowning, "I still have many things to tell you. We can talk about this when I'm done if you want to."

He took a deep breath and lowered his wand. He could kill Potter later for destroying his Horcrux, it was more important to know if Potter knew what the diary was and if he knew that there were more. How could he have found out? Maybe Dumbledore found out and told the brat. He needed to see if the others were safe. He couldn't risk more of his soul.

Potter told him about the rest of the year and even though he was still not happy about what had happened to his Horcrux, he understood. Potter hadn't even known that it was him he was facing and after he found out it was all about survival. If he had been in the same situation he would have done the same. Lucius on the other hand... Lucius would suffer for disobeying him.

Potter continued telling him about his third year. He didn't go into details, just a quick overlay of what had happened and how Wormtail ended up free.

When Potter reached his fourth year that was when things started to get quite interesting. Potter told him about the tasks and what he did in them and he wanted to speak up, but one look from Potter shut him up. He almost wasn't able to hide his incredulity as Potter told him about the ritual he would have performed if Potter hadn't given him his body back. The duel that Potter described was just as unbelievable. Unfortunately Potter didn't stop there and continued on to his fifth year. He was so transfixed that he didn't even react when he heard the whole prophecy. He would have time to think about it later. By sixth year he wanted to deny every word that was coming out of Potter's mouth, but he couldn't. Potter knew too much for it to be a lie. Besides he could see it in his eyes. Those eyes showed everything. Potter was being honest, he was telling the truth. Of course there was also the little matter of the magical oath that Potter had taken, so he _knew_ that he was telling the truth, however that didn't make it less unbelievable.

He never thought that he would feel relieved when he heard about his death. He now understood what Potter had meant when he said he would have been to far gone. He sounded like a rabid dog and rabid dogs should be put down. He had never wanted to destroy the wizarding world. It was his home, the place he truly belonged. The world that Potter had described was nothing like he had envisioned. No matter what happened he would never allow himself to lose his mind. He knew that he wasn't the sanest person around, even when he was younger he knew that he wasn't quite _normal_ , but he had never lost his mind. He had always been rational. He prided himself on being one of the most brilliant minds that the wizarding world had ever seen, to lose that to insanity and not even noticing, was truly horrible.

"We had peace for around nineteen years, though in the blink of an eye everything changed. One day we were living our lives and the other we were being hunted. The muggles found out about us."

For a few moments they didn't say anything, Harry lost in his thoughts and Voldemort trying to understand what he had heard. Because there was no way that he had heard right, it had to be wrong.

"What?" his voice was low and deceivingly calm, "How?"

"The muggle prime minister exposed us. We found out later that he was a squib that hated us for having what he didn't. He was adopted by a good family, had a rather good life, even his magical family cared for him. The only reason they gave him up for adoption was because they believed he would have a better life with the muggles, though they did tell him he was free to visit them every time he wanted and they even opened a Gringotts vault for him. There were no tragic events in his life. He just hated us, envied us.

"He exposed our world to the muggles and since he was a squib he knew how to obtain the information needed to prove it. The religious fanatics were the first to adhere to campaigns to exterminate us or to put laws in place that would see us as no better than animals. I still can't believe how fast the laws to deny us any human rights were put in place. They could do anything to us and they wouldn't be punished. For the first two years there were still muggles who cared. They fought for our rights. That was when they started to distribute information about Grindelwald and how he helped Hitler during World War II. They said that Hitler would never have gotten as far as he had if it weren't for the wizards. From helping Hitler to creating Hitler wasn't that much of a stretch in their minds. Soon wizards were blamed for everything bad that had ever happened, even natural catastrophes. For the first time ever the whole world was in agreement. What did they care if they worshiped different gods, or if they had different skin colors? They had finally found a common enemy. Wizards. The church saw this as an opportunity and the Inquisition was reinstated. The war that followed was... I don't think there is a word that could describe it. Many of us preferred to kill themselves than to be captured by the Inquisition. When we saw how bad it had gotten we believed that our wards would keep us safe. We were wrong.

"Hogwarts... Hogwarts was completely destroyed. They targeted it because they knew it was a school. They didn't care that they were killing innocent children. In their eyes they had magic so they had to die. I still remember the smell of blood, fire and burned flesh.

"I had to dig out the broken and burned body of my daughter form the ruins. My little Lily was the first of my children to die."

Potter stopped and took a deep breath. For the first time in a long time he didn't know what to do. A part of him didn't want to hear anymore, he didn't want to know what nightmarish world Potter had left behind. However a bigger part of him wanted to know more, wanted to know everything. What Potter was telling him may be unbelievable and he may want to write it of as Potter having lost his mind, but those eyes... Those eyes didn't lie. It was impossible to fake such pain. For a fraction of a second Potter look like a tired old man who had seen to much and lost everything a man could lose instead of the fourteen year old teenager that had his whole life ahead of him.

"Even after everything they had done they weren't satisfied. They started using nuclear weapons."

"What?" he whispered. He couldn't believe that the muggles would use nuclear weapons. He knew what kind of destruction those weapons caused, didn't they realize the damage they would do?

"Yes, I didn't even know there were so many of them. Before that they had resorted to biological weapons, but those didn't hurt us all that much, our magic protected us from most of what they threw at us and they were never able to get their hands on any wizarding diseases. They killed far more muggles with it than magical beings. But they didn't care. If they had to kill one hundred muggles to get one wizard then they saw it as a success. Stupid idiots." Potter sneered and he agreed, even though the muggles outnumbered them it would be stupid to use such weapons knowing that they were killing more of their own race than magical beings. "They destroyed the planet. Large animals were all but extinct, vegetation wouldn't grow, the rain was toxic. The planet was dying.

"When the muggle shot me there were only a handful of wizards left. Not that the muggles were doing much better. The big cities were practically deserted and there was no cluster of civilization that had more than one hundred people. The men and women became infertile, even if they survived on the dying planet it would become impossible to repopulate. It was one of the consequences of the radiation and the biological weapons. One of them was a virus that was supposed to affect our sperm. It did nothing to us, but the muggles... That, combined with everything else that they created, was enough to make even most animals infertile. There hadn't been any births or pregnancies in the last six years. Either way the muggles were doomed."

Voldemort couldn't really imagine a world like that. It was a true nightmare, his darkest fears come to life. He had lived through World War II, he had witnessed the bombings. He had always wondered what would happen if all that destructive force was aimed at them. Now he knew and wished he didn't.

"I died and woke up in an office..."

Well... Maybe he should be thankful that Potter didn't appear to want to fight him. Death's son. Fate really hated him, didn't it? How in Salazar's name was he supposed to win against _Death_ _'s_ son?

"That's how I survived. I was born an elemental, even though I didn't know how to control the elements, they still reacted to my emotions. The Life element reacted to my fear and distress and sucked the life force around me to counteract the _Avada Kedavra_. The two opposing elements collided, _Avada Kedavra_ is closely linked to the element Death, which made the _Avada Kedavra_ rebound. Death gave me the control over my ability. That's how I gave you your body back. I had your soul, so I only needed to develop the life that it already had. Of course I wouldn't have been able to do it if you were truly dead. There are also my limits to consider. It seems that I don't have the energy to age you more than twenty-five years, if I had continued it is likely that I would have died. Well, considering everything I wouldn't have stayed dead, but you understand what I mean."

"Why did you come back?" he asked when Potter stayed silent for a while. He suspected he knew the answer but he wanted to hear Potter say it.

"I am going to kill them all." Potter replied and for a few moments it looked like he was looking Death in the face. No, not Death. Death's son. He couldn't stop a shiver running down his spine. It was difficult to see the Light's puppet that he had meet a few years back when he was looking into killing curse green eyes that shone with deadly intent. He wondered how Dumbledore would react if he knew what his little pawn had become. He really wanted to be there when he found out. And he would find out. He doubted that Potter would play the student for much longer.

"Oh, I almost forgot, I have your Horcrux again. Can I keep it or do you want to transfer it to another receptacle?"

He had almost forgotten that little detail. Potter was his Horcrux. Death's son was his Horcrux.

"You are truly immortal." he remarked, "I will be too, as long as my soul stays with you. What do you want?" he asked, narrowing his eyes. Both of them knew that Potter had all the carts in his hand. He was in a rather disadvantageous position and both knew it.

"I want an alliance between us. However the safety of your Horcrux isn't depended on it. I will keep your Horcrux safe for as long as I have it with me, regardless of your decision on this matter. I want you to ally yourself to me because you want it, not because you think I will destroy your soul if you don't."

Well, Potter continued to surprise him. If anyone else had told him that he wouldn't have believed them. Potter on the other hand... He had no reason to lie and again those eyes were giving him away. His face may be emotionless but his eyes betrayed him.

"I need to think." he told Potter, because he truly did. He was almost certain that he would accept but he needed to organize his thoughts. Potter had told him so many things, he needed time to look all of it over.

"Alright. You can contact me through Barty." Potter told him and got up.

He nodded and Potter waved before leaving his office whistling. He shook his head, why did he have the feeling that his life had just become a lot more complicated?

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N.: Hello all :) Thank you all for your support. The response to Death's Son has been amazing and I couldn't be happier :D
> 
> So, a few people were wondering if this was going to be a political fic. The answer is no. Sure, there is going to be some politics but the whole story won't be about that. Harry doesn't care all that much about politics, he wants to kill the muggles and that's about it. Tom will be the one playing politics and it will be only so that they can avoid the whole muggle finding out about them. Neither of them cares about getting control through politics, they will be perfectly happy if they have to cause a bloodbath to get what they want, they would even enjoy it more. Harry isn't all that light anymore, he won't kill those he considers his friends but anyone else his fair game.
> 
> Hope you enjoy this chapter. Next chapter there will be more Tom and Barty will be added to the mix... I love Barty, Harry will torment him so much, as well as Lucius and the LeStrange brothers. Poor Death Eaters they won't know what hit them...


	4. Gift

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer:This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J. K. Rowling. No money is being made.

* * *

**Chapter 4 – Gift**

Harry was rather surprised that his meeting had gone so well. Voldemort had been quite civil, he was completely ignoring the fact that if he had been anyone else he would have been dead since Voldemort was the kind to curse first and ask questions later. But, all in all, the meeting had been a success.

Sighing he took another book from the restricted section. As a champion he had access to the whole library, something for which he was quite thankful. At least he could read something new, otherwise he would have lost his mind in his classes. He couldn't believe he hadn't taken full advantage of it in his first live. But he had come to terms with how he used to be. This time however there was no reason to not take advantage of it, specially because he had to go through fourth year again. Going through fourth year once was more than enough, thank you very much.

Deeming the books he had to be sufficient he sat down in a corner a little out of the way. He hadn't seen the other students' reactions yet and he wasn't really inclined to deal with it. He would postpone it for as long as he could.

The previous day he had been away most of the time and the time he had been in the castle he had managed to avoid practically everyone. Not that he was worried about their reactions; truthfully he had stopped caring about what others thought a very long time ago; however he didn't want to deal with all the looks. He hadn't been the Boy-Who-Lived for such a long time, he had forgotten just how frustrating the constant staring was.

Unfortunately his little heaven couldn't go undiscovered for long. Less than an hour after he sat down the proximity ward he had cast alerted him that someone was approaching. A few seconds later two people sat down in front of him.

Though he hid it, he was rather surprised. He had been expecting Hermione, or some other Gryffindor, but Zacharias Smith and Wayne Hopkins hadn't even crossed his mind. He had never been friends with these particular Hufflepuffs. As far as he remembered Smith hated him as much as Malfoy did. And Hopkins was never really on his radar, he got lost in the crowd.

He only remembered Hopkins because during the war he had been one of the few people who was able to save muggle-borns. Since he was a muggle-born as well, he used his muggle resources to find and help any children he could. He had no idea what had happened to him, but he had his suspicions. Hopkins wasn't the only one that simply disappeared; he just hoped that he had a fast death and that he hadn't ended up in a lab like hundreds of others.

"Yes?" he asked, looking at them curiously. He didn't even have to fake it; he had no idea what they wanted with him. Even in the previous life they had never confronted him.

"We came to offer our help for the tournament, if you need it." Smith told him. The incredulity he felt must have been plain on his face because Hopkins continued.

"Cedric told us what happened. It was agreed between all the Hufflepuffs to help you. We Hufflepuffs are loyal and none of us forgot what happened in second year. We accused you without any evidence and we were ready to do it again before Cedric told us what happened. Helga would have been ashamed of our behavior. You are the youngest, you are a Hogwarts student, the least we can do is help you in any way we can."

Harry was surprised. He knew that things would change, but he hadn't expected it to be such drastic changes.

"Thank you." what else could he say? They were giving him what he had wanted in his first life. Now it wasn't something that he craved as much, but he still appreciated it. Now he had Death, his father, he would never be alone again. Even so he was happy with the outcome; he needed wizards and witches that would follow him. Voldemort had his Death Eaters, but to fight against the muggles it wasn't enough, it was nowhere near enough.

They had to convince as many wizards as they could. They couldn't afford to be divided. They couldn't fight against muggles and wizards. They had to take control of the Wizarding World first. With Voldemort in power it would become much easier to deal with the muggles. Now they had to figure out how they would go about achieving it. Dumbledore wouldn't just let them do whatever they wanted.

"So, what are you doing?" asked Hopkins, bringing him out of his thoughts.

"Since we don't know what the first task is, I opted to study some more obscure spells. I've been raiding the restricted section since all the champions have a free pass for it. Never know what might pop up in those books."

"Cedric opted to do the same. He asked his father to send him some books from their family library. Why don't you use the Potter library? It must have a lot of information, the Potters are a rather old family." Smith suggested.

"I can't access the family vault yet, I have to be off age in the eyes of the Ministry."

And hadn't that been a surprise in his previous life? He was completely astonished when they took him to his family vault the first time he visited the bank after the war. That was also when he found out his true name. He learned about the tradition the Potters had about giving their children two names. A formal name, used in contracts and other similar situations. And an informal name, used in every-day life. Hadrian was his formal name, Harry informal. His father's formal name was Jameson and his grandfather's Charlus.

Technically Harry could quit the tournament because they hadn't used his formal name. However he didn't want to. The tournament was the only entertainment he would have throughout the year, of course only if Barty didn't interfere. Maybe he should talk with him, he couldn't dedicate himself only to killing muggles, he had to find some sort of fun and Barty could be that fun. He was sure that Tom wouldn't mind sharing his Death Eater.

"You had to be an adult to participate in the tournament, right?" Smith asked and Harry nodded.

"The Ministry is making you participate, so is Dumbledore and he is the Headmaster and the Head of the Wizengamot. Technically that's three government branches that declared you an adult, it's enough for the goblins."

Harry looked at him incredulously. How hadn't he thought about that? The smile that appeared on his face was pure mischievousness.

"You know what? I think I have to go..."

Hopkins and Smith nodded.

"If anyone asks you were with us the whole time. Try not to take to long."

Harry laughed and nodded, packing his books.

"I'll be back as soon as possible. Thanks."

"You're welcome. Do you know where the kitchens are?" asked Hopkins, getting up as well. Harry nodded, looking at him curiously.

"Go there as soon as you're back, then we'll take you to our common room. So people see you with us."

Harry nodded and said goodbye. Having the support of the Hufflepuffs was turning out to be quite useful.

* * *

Getting access to the Potter family vaults was much easier the second time around. Smith had been right, the tournament was for overage wizards, he was participating with the Ministry's permission so to speak, so he must be overage. The goblins didn't even sneer at him when he told them. Though he admitted that the last time they may have sneered because he had robed them. They didn't really care that it had been for a good cause. The only reason why they didn't accuse him of anything was because he had been the nation's hero. They had been afraid of being accused of supporting Voldemort if they did anything against the person who killed him. Though he was certain that the only reason why he hadn't suffered an accident once he was in the bank was because he gave them good publicity, when in an interview he mentioned that the only reason he was able to kill Voldemort was because he had the help of a goblin. He hadn't lied, even if the little sneak ended up double crossing them. People took that as to mean that the goblins had been working against Voldemort all along and they became far more polite and even the laws about goblin restrictions became much milder. Either way Harry had just been happy that they weren't out for his blood.

Still, what mattered now was that he had access to the family vault. The gold that was in there didn't even interest him that much, but the books... the books were a completely different matter.

Those books, more than anything else, showed the history of his family. Books as old as Hogwarts, autobiographies of the founders, diaries of the Heads of the Potter family, curses and charms that no one but a Potter had ever used. The first time that he had access to all of it had been a rather emotional moment. For someone who never had family, who never knew more about his family than the fact that he looked like his father and had his mother's eyes, finding all of that had been more than he had ever dreamed of.

Remembering that the Hufflepuffs were waiting for him he headed towards the kitchens. It would be the first time that he went to the Hufflepuff common room, it was the only one he had never seen.

Hopkins and Smith were seated by a small round table that was a little away from the organized chaos that filled the kitchen. There was a plate with sandwiches in the middle but aside from that the table was filled with parchments and books. It looked like their homework.

Hopkins was the first to notice him and he waved, pointing at a vacant chair.

"That was fast." Smith remarked looking up.

"The goblins didn't complicate matters. The tournament is for overage wizards, I'm participating so that must mean I'm overage. Simple and effective. What are you doing?"

"Potions homework," Hopkins replied, not hiding his distaste, "If the work isn't practically perfect he will fail us, and even when it is perfect he doesn't give us more than an Acceptable."

Harry understood his bitterness. Snape had always given him Poor and Dreadful in his potions, however in his O.W.L's he had obtained an Exceeded Expectations, which showed that he couldn't be as bad as Snape made him out to be.

"The only exams that matter are the O.W.L's and N.E.W.T's. As long as you have good marks there, it's the only thing that matters. I'll do my best to get an Outstanding just to see Snape's face."

Smith snorted and smirked at him.

"Who would have thought that you could be so vindictive." he remarked and Harry smirked back.

"I think you will see that I am not quite what people think."

Smith and Hopkins looked at him curiously, Smith with a slightly more calculating edge to his curiosity, then he smiled.

"I can hardly wait to see it."

* * *

 

The following morning Hermione was waiting for him in the common room. Harry wasn't surprised, honestly she had stayed away longer than he thought she would.

"Where were you?" she asked, looking worried, "I didn't see you anywhere yesterday."

"I was with Smith and Hopkins."

"The Hufflepuffs?"

"Yes, they offered to help me with the tournament. Considering the situation it seemed stupid to refuse." he wasn't even lying. True he was thinking about a completely different situation than the one Hermione was probably thinking about, but that was hardly his fault.

"I knew they didn't blame you, but I wasn't expecting them to actually help you." she looked surprised, though the relief she felt about it was palpable. He guessed that she was happy that he wasn't alone.

"Well, apparently they were ready to crucify me before Cedric told them what had happened. They were rather ashamed. That's when they decided to help me in any way they could."

"At least there's that. I don't even want to know how the rest of the year would have been if you hadn't remembered to make an Oath."

Harry nodded. His fourth year had been one of the worst at Hogwarts, the only one that had been worse had been his fifth. Speaking about his fifth year... he had a certain someone to visit. He hadn't planed on killing a lot of magical people but for her... for her he could make an exception.

As they entered the Great Hall Harry saw the look Ron threw him and contained a sigh.

"You should sit with him."

"But Harry..."

"Go Hermione. I'll be with Neville, Deana and Seamus. It looks like most of Gryffindor is ignoring him and I don't want things to get worse."

Hermione sighed and nodded, leaving Harry with the other fourth year boys.

Harry smiled at his roommates and sat down. He had more important things to think about than Ron and his jealousy.

* * *

For what seemed like the hundredth time he looked at his hands. He knew it didn't make any sense but it helped him remember that it was real. And even though he had his body back, part of him truly wished it wasn't. Because if this wasn't real, then everything that Potter had told him wasn't real either.

He wasn't even thinking about the fact that Potter was basically indestructible, though that hadn't been a pleasant surprise either. It was strange to think that by acting on the prophecy he had made Potter what he was. He had only himself to blame. Even so, that wasn't why a part of him wished it wasn't real.

No, what made him wish it was the war against the muggles.

The war they lost.

A cowardly part of him was glad that he had been dead when it happened. He didn't think he would have been able to handle to see the destruction of the Wizarding World. That was something he admired about Potter. After everything that happened, after everything that he went through he was still strong enough to fight. That was something that deserved his respect.

He sighed and leaned back on his armchair. The question now was; what to do? What path should he take?

Killing Potter was out of the question. Firstly it seemed to be impossible to do it, secondly he was his horcrux. He still found that incredibly ironic. An immortal being was his horcrux.

Still, Potter being immortal didn't leave him with many choices. He knew, though he didn't like it, that he would have to share.

Potter would never be a simple Death Eater. So the only place he could have would be one at his side. A second Dark Lord.

Could they have interpreted the prophecy wrong? Could it have meant that Potter would become a Dark Lord all along? A Dark Lord's true equal could only be another Dark Lord, correct?

Though, now that he thought about it, he may have marked Potter as his equal, but Potter was the one who _made him_ his equal. It was rather ironic.

Now the question was; was he willing to share with Potter?

He had never even thought about sharing his power and now it seemed that he would have to do it with the one person who could destroy him.

"Wormtail!" he shouted, really, there was no use in delaying.

* * *

Harry sighed in relief when Barty entered the classroom. As soon as Barty entered the students took his eyes from him and looked at the professor, something for which he was quite thankful. He had to constantly remember that he couldn't curse the students, no matter how much the constant staring got on his nerves.

A few minutes after the class started Harry felt eyes on him again. He almost twitched. Discreetly he looked around, trying to see who was looking at him. However every single one of the students seemed to be focused on the lesson. He frowned and looked back at his book. Maybe he had been imagining it. A few moments later he felt eyes on him again. He narrowed his eyes and looked around again. Only then did he notice. Moody's magical eye was locked on him. Though that wasn't he only thing he noticed. The shocked and incredulous look Barty had made him want to cackle with glee.

Apparently Tom had made a decision.

"Potter, stay for a moment." Barty told him at the end of the class.

Harry wasn't surprised by the request. He waited for all the students to leave, then felt the wards go up. He smirked and got up.

"Do you want anything Barty?" he asked when he reached Moody's desk.

He couldn't help the chuckle that escaped him when Barty froze, wide eyes locking on him.

"Ah," he said, a mischievous sparkle in his eyes, "He didn't tell you that I knew who you were, did he? It doesn't really surprise me, he always had a rather dark and sadistic sense of humor." Barty was looking at him in horror. Harry guessed that it had been his insinuation that he was well enough acquainted with Voldemort to know just what his humor was like. He didn't blame Barty, it would shock anyone to know just how much two supposed enemies knew about each other. As strange as it was Tom was probably the person who knew him best, and he was the one who knew Tom best. Well, at least the one who know Voldemort better. He couldn't help but wonder how similar this Ton and his Voldemort were. "I suppose that you have a message for me?"

Barty pulled himself together. He stood straighter and his expression became much more serious.

"He," it seemed to almost pain him to refer to Tom without an honorific, "requested that you meet him as soon as you can."

Well, that wasn't something he had been expecting. Not about the invitation itself, that had been expected. What he hadn't expected was the request.

Tom didn't request, he demanded. It was a pleasant surprise. He had expected to be treated as a Death Eater, a more powerful and useful Death Eater but a Death Eater all the same. It had never crossed his mind that Tom would treat him as an equal. Not that he would have been a obedient little servant, but he had expected to have to fight to be seen as something more.

"Alright, I think I will be able to see him tonight," Harry told Barty, turning around to leave. "Oh, that's right, I almost forgot." he said turning to Barty again, "Don't interfere with the tournament Barty. This tournament is one of the few things that will keep me entertained, though that will only happen if you don't interfere. Trust me, you won't like it at all if I lose my entertainment." with a small chuckle he left the classroom. Leaving a speechless Barty behind.

Well, at least now he knew that he could go play with Barty whenever he was bored. He just hoped that Barty got over his shock quickly. It would be no fun at all if Barty didn't get back that spark he had seen in his first life.

* * *

"You called me faster than I thought you would," Harry said, entering Tom's office as if he owned it, and dodging an _Avada Kedavra_ just in the nick of time, "We have to talk about this habit of yours..." Harry muttered, sitting in one of the free armchairs in front of the fireplace.

"If you didn't appear unannounced..." snapped Tom, taking the other armchair beside Harry.

"I received an invitation." Harry reminded him, slouching a little in his seat.

Tom opted not to argue and studied the teenager in front of him. Now that he knew what to look for it became quite obvious. The way he held himself, the grace he had even slouching on his armchair... he was a Lord. It shouldn't surprise him, he was Death's son, but it did. In some way he was still seeing the little eleven year old who fought him for the Philosopher's stone. The boy that was so light that it outshone everyone else. But Potter wasn't that child anymore. He had lost that innocence, that overwhelming light. He was far too broken to be that boy.

"I have been thinking about our conversation," Tom said when it became obvious that Potter was quite happy to remain silent, "Naturally I won't continue to try to kill you. Completely ignoring the fact that you are immortal, you are my horcrux. And as you no doubt must know, I am in no hurry to know your father."

Harry couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped him. For a few moments he had forgotten that what Tom feared most was Death, his father. Tom should be thankful that he wasn't like Draco. He could see it know; ' _When my father hears about this..._ '. Poor Tom, he would never survive something like that.

"I know that you would never accept being a Death Eater." Tom couldn't quite hide his displeasure about that fact, "So, I suppose that the only place for you is at my side. Ruling at my side as a second Dark Lord."

Harry's eyes widened slightly. He had never thought that Tom would propose something like that. Tom didn't share.

"Are you surprised?" Tom asked. Harry only detected curiosity so he answered.

"A little," if Tom was willing to share, the least he could do would be to be honest with him, "I admit that I don't know you as well as I'd like, but from what I do know about you it is clear that you don't share. Though my Tom, the one I dealt with had lost all traces of sanity, so I have to assume that your actions won't mirror his."

"I confess that the idea of sharing with anyone doesn't please me at all. But... you aren't just anyone, are you?"

"No, I'm not."

"Did you have any plans?" Tom asked after a few moments of silence. It wasn't uncomfortable, quite the contrary actually. He felt rather at ease with Potter. Still, he knew that Potter couldn't be away for long, people would miss him.

"Not really. Honestly I didn't have all that much time to think about everything. I know about a few things that have to be changed, but I don't have anything specific outlined."

"Can you find time to come here and make some plans? I would rather have a plan or two than to learn about something you do after you did it."

"If I can use Barty then I think it won't be a problem. I could come almost every day."

"Then I'll tell him to obey you."

Harry lifted an eyebrow and Tom narrowed his eyes.

"What?"

"Nothing. I'm just surprised that you are willing to let me boss around your Death Eater."

Tom sighed, his posture changing slightly.

"You are going to rule with me. Control over the Death Eaters is part of that package."

"Do you think that the Death Eaters will accept that their new Lord is a fourteen year old half-blood?"

"You aren't fourteen."

"But they don't know that. They will never know that."

"I'm sure you will be able to handle it."

Harry snorted. Yes, he was sure that he would be able to deal with it, he just hopped that he didn't lose control. The objective was to preserve magical life, not slaughter them because they had angered him.

"Yeah... I'll be able to handle them. I just hope you don't end with a few less Death Eaters."

Tom actually snorted. He would rather enjoy seeing Potter lose it with his... no, _their_ Death Eaters.

"I'm sure you will be able to control yourself." a little smirk appeared on his lips and Potter smiled mischievously. "I have something for you."

Harry raised an eyebrow when he saw Tom getting up and opening a drawer in his desk. He took out a little box and gave it to him.

Curious Harry opened it. He gasped when he saw what was inside.

The Resurrection Stone lay innocently inside the box and Harry was almost overwhelmed with longing.

"Why are you giving this to me?" Harry knew that it was still a horcrux. He could feel it.

"It is yours, isn't it?" Tom asked him rhetorically, "Though if you are wondering why I'm giving my horcrux to you... Consider it a gift to show you that I truly wish for our partnership to work. That I'm not doing it to try and trick you but because I truly wish for us to save our world. I... I trust you."

Harry was stunned. Those were words he had never thought he would hear coming from Tom. Not after he had admitted that he had killed the man in his previous life. Though a part of him was touched. He knew how difficult it was for Tom to admit that out loud. And he knew that Tom wasn't lying, he could feel it. Their connection, now that he had the horcrux in him again, was stronger than ever.

"Thank you." he replied, trying to convey everything with those simple words.

Tom nodded, showing that he understood and Harry smiled. It looked like coming to Tom was one of the best decision he could have made. At least he wasn't alone in trying to save their world.

He picked the ring up, holding it with care. He remembered the last time he had the stone in his hands, that fateful night of Life and Death. The night he had chosen a path that he had later regretted, though he never told anyone about it. People were happy, the Dark Lord was dead. That was all that mattered. No one would have cared that he regretted the death of Tom Marvolo Riddle, the most brilliant wizard to have been born. No one knew he wondered how things would have turned out if Tom hadn't lost his mind. No one would understood if he told them that he wished that things had turned out differently.

Not that hadn't loved his life. He had. He had loved Ginny. Their children had been everything to him. Even so that didn't stop him from wondering.

What would they have said if they knew the choices he was making now? If they knew that he had joined Voldemort.

What about this parents? What would they say if they saw him now? A part of him truly wished to know.

"What in Merlin's..." Tom's exclamation made him look up. He gaped for what felt like an eternity.

"Wh-? How? Why are you here?" he stuttered looking at Lily and James Potter. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Tom gripping his wand tightly, looking a little too pale. He was staring at the Potters with wide eyes, not really knowing what to do.

Harry focused on his parents. If he had to guess he would say that he looked somewhat the same as Tom. Though he believed that Tom had far more reasons to look as he did, after all it wasn't every day that people you had killed suddenly appeared in your office.

"Oh... my baby." his mom whispered, not even looking at the man who had killed them. Though his dad glared briefly at the Dark Lord before he looked at Harry and smiled brightly at him.

"I... I don't understand." Harry muttered, "How are you here? I didn't call you..."

"Sweetheart your connection to your father gives you complete control over the Hallows, you don't have to call us. Thinking about us is enough." his mom told him with a kind smile.

A wave of guilt hit him unexpectedly.

"Don't." his dad's voice was hard and serious. Harry looked at him in surprise, "Don't you dare feel guilty." his eyes softened, "All I ever wanted was for you to be happy, for you to be loved. I died so that you could have all of that. Death... He gave you what I couldn't. He loves you so much. I'm glad that you have him in your life."

"You're not angry? You know what I want to do?"

"No, love. We aren't angry." his mother told him, "We know you suffered a lot. We know what happened. We agree with you."

"You do? Even me joining Tom?" he couldn't help but sound skeptical.

His dad glared at Tom again and if Harry didn't know better he would say that Tom actually looked sheepish. Then his dad sighed and a smile appeared on his lips.

"You have already forgiven him." he stated with conviction, "I can't say that I'm happy with it, but if you are then that's all that matters. However," he turned to glare at Tom, "if you hurt my Prongslet I'll find a way to kill you." he stated with such conviction that Tom stood straighter.

"You have my word that I have no intention of harming Harry. He will rule the world with me, as my equal." Tom stated and Harry almost gaped.

James looked at Tom for a few seconds. Seconds that were filled with tension. Then he nodded and the air relaxed. Harry hadn't even realized that he had been holding his breath. It strangely reminded him of the day that James introduced his first boyfriend to him and he really wasn't sure what to make of the comparison.

His mother threw him a knowing smile and he felt like groaning, why had he a sudden feeling of foreboding?

"We have to go sweetheart," his mother said with a sad smile, "But now you can call on us whenever you want to."

"Wait! I have a question."

"What is it, son?" his dad asked, and he felt his heart fill with warmth at being called son.

"How can Tom see you?"

"You are Death's son," his dad said, "Your powers are different from what they were before. As long as it is you who calls the spirits of the dead, everyone else will be able to see them."

"Oh... I see." that did make sense, "I... Thank you. For everything you did for me and for supporting me, even now that I'm walking a path that you hadn't envisioned for me."

"You are our son." his mother said, "We will always support and love you, even if we don't understand all of your decisions."

"We understand this one. We support it. I just wish you would talk with Sirius and Remus. They love you just as much as we do, they will stand with you." his dad told him.

"Even though I'm with Tom?"

"Yes. They may not understand but they won't betray you." James assured him, "Though I would like it better if you told them why you decided to join Voldemort."

"I..." truthfully it hadn't even crossed his mind. He didn't want to drag them into his mess. But the idea of having them with him, it was rather tempting, "I'll think about it."

"That's all I ask." his dad smiled. "We really have to go now, we can feel the pull already. Bye, baby." his dad whispered and his mother had tears in her eyes.

"Bye, sweetheart." his mom murmured, then they were gone.

His eyes fell on Tom who was studying him with interest. There were so many emotions in his eyes that Harry was momentarily stunned. He could swear that there was regret in Tom's eyes. Regret for what he didn't know but he was sure that it was there.

"Well," Tom said breaking the moment, "I get the feeling that things are going to be really interesting with you around."

Harry couldn't help it, he laughed.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N.: A little shorter than the previous one, though after this things start to really happen. Tom and Harry will start making plans, Harry will finally decide what to do with Sirius, and Barty gets over the shock of Harry being dark. Bart will be back to his crazy, adorable self :)


	5. Future sins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J. K. Rowling. No money is being made.
> 
> Warnings: This story will have Slash, violence and torture.

* * *

**Chapter 5 – Future Sins**

He closed the door behind him and in a matter of seconds he had all kinds of wards in place. That had been close. Really close. He slumped against the door and sighed, completely ignoring the wizard in the room that was staring at him, he was far too old for this.

He looked up and met the wizards' eyes, who quickly dropped to his knees and bowed his head.

"My Lord."

He couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, looking at the man incredulously.

"What the hell Barty?"

"I am sorry my Lord, if I had known you would be coming I would have-"

"Barty!" he interrupted, "There was no way you would known I would be coming since I hadn't been planing on it. However your quarters were the closest ones I could hide in." he explained, "Now, will you tell my why the hell you are calling me Lord? And for Merlin's sake, stand up, will you?"

Barty looked at him as if he had never seen anyone like him, however, much to his relief, he stood up.

"My Lord told me I had to obey your orders as if it were his own." Barty replied and Harry nodded.

"Yes, he told me that. That doesn't explain why you were calling me Lord."

"I assumed it would be required, since he told me that you should be treated as he is." Barty replied looking slightly bewildered.

"Oh Merlin..." groaned Harry, "Don't. Don't call me Lord. At least don't do it when it's just the two of us." he grumbled, "You are to only one that knows the truth. So I'll be coming here a lot, even if it's just to went. Or if I need a little bit of escape from the other students."

Slowly Barty nodded, he looked as if he still couldn't believe what Harry was telling him. However Harry was pleased to see him relax, if only a little bit. It was better than nothing in his opinion.

"So... you're hiding?" Barty asked after a few awkward moments of silence. Harry almost thanked Merlin when he saw the teasing light in Barty's eyes. He really wanted to see the Barty he had glimpsed in his previous life.

"Since I didn't enter the tournament most of the girls are going around the castle trying to console me. Apparently it is a traumatizing experience and I need a shoulder to cry on." he scowled, "There is nothing scarier than girls... well, fan-girls." he must have looked truly horrified because Barty actually chuckled.

"Let me get this straight," Barty said, "You face the Dark Lord without even looking nervous and you are afraid of girls?"

"Not just girls Barty!" Harry exclaimed, "Fan-girls."

Harry was rather pleased with himself when Barty laughed. He smiled and sat on one of the free armchairs near the fireplace. It took a second or two but Barty took the seat next to his.

"You are taking this rather well." Harry remarked.

Barty actually snorted.

"I'm taking this well?" he asked incredulously, "Are you joking? I'm still half expecting to wake up and realize that this is all a dream. How else could the Boy-Who-Lived have joined the Dark Lord?"

"I didn't really join him..." muttered Harry and was somewhat shocked when Barty jumped out of his armchair.

"That's just it!" he exclaimed, "You aren't even a Death Eater! He said you were his equal." Barty looked at him sharply, "What could you, a fourteen year old brat, have done to be the Dark Lord's equal?" he sneered, a fanatical glow in his eyes, the insanity that he usually kept concealed when he paraded around as Moody shinning through.

That was the Barty that Harry wanted to see. The one who he had glimpsed the night of the third task.

"Does it matter?" he asked calmly, leaning back on his seat.

Barty snarled and pulled his wand out. Though Harry saw his aim faltering slightly when he saw the utterly unconcerned look in his eyes.

"I rather like you Barty," he commented, "Though if you try to curse me... well, maybe you'll learn why he considers me his equal. Though I guarantee that it won't be an enjoyable experience for you."

Barty lowered his wand slightly, his eyes lost that insanity for a moment and looked sharper than before.

"You're different." the Death Eater murmured, completely lowering his wand and putting it away.

"People change."

"Not as suddenly as you did." he argued, taking his seat again, "You are a completely different person than you were a mere week ago."

"My... were you keeping such a close eye on me that you would notice something like that?"

Barty scoffed, a small smirk appeared on his lips.

"Didn't have much of a choice, did I?" he asked, "There were so many rumors about you that I had to observe you closely to see which ones were true."

"Really? And what did you make out of all that observing?" he was honestly curious, he had no idea that Barty had kept such a close eye on him. He had suspected of course, but he was hardly in a position to ask him in his previous life.

"Honestly?" when Harry nodded Barty continued, "I wasn't sure. Sometimes you appeared to be just an average student, though sometimes there were these occasions where I felt that you were more..."

"The _Imperius_?"

"Of course the _Imperius_! Do you actually think that it's normal for a fourteen year old to be able to fight an Imperius? Well, let me tell you... it isn't!"

"And now?"

"Now... you scare me."

"I scare you? I didn't do anything. How the hell am I supposed to scare you?"

"I was there when Severus started screaming like he was under the Dark Lord's _Cruciatus_ , I may not know what you did, but I am certain it was you. I saw how your magic made the room colder and how the shadows danced around you."

"You were?" he was sure that Barty had only appeared after all those things had happened.

"I entered with everyone else. I just used a few spells to remain hidden." Barty told him, "I wanted to see how you would react. It... it wasn't how I had expected it." Harry was slightly impressed. The spells Barty had used had to have been quite good, otherwise he would have sensed him. It had become an ingrained habit during the war, knowing where everyone was at any given time. It could mean the difference between life and death.

"What makes you think that I was responsible to whatever happened to Snape?" he did his best to sound as innocent as possible. He had no problem if Barty found out that he was indeed the one who had done it, but he was curious about what made him think that he was the one responsible. If it was something someone else had noticed... well, it could lead to uncomfortable questions. From the look on Barty's face it was quite clear that he wasn't buying his innocent face.

"It was your smile. When he went down your smile reminded me of the one the Dark Lord has when he's torturing someone." Barty told him, his eyes looking slightly vacant. "What did you do to him?" the question was no more than a whispered. Barty didn't even seem to be talking to him.

"I don't really like Snape." he answered anyway. It didn't really matter to him if Barty knew, quite the opposite in fact. He wanted to have someone with whom he could talk about anything he wanted, "I don't like people like him."

"Like him?" Barty asked, and Harry was pleased to see that he was completely relaxed.

"People only loyal to themselves." he snarled, not able to completely hide the bitterness in his voice.

Barty's eyes narrowed and a shrewd look appeared in his eyes.

"He isn't loyal to my Lord?"

"He is loyal only to himself. Don't worry," Harry added when he saw Barty's look, "Tom already knows."

"T-t-tom?" Barty stuttered. "He let's you call him _Tom_?"

"You know his name is Tom?" he asked just as surprised. As far as he could tell most of his Inner Circle didn't know his name had been Tom Riddle.

"Of course!" Barty exclaimed, looking smug, "My Lord told me the truth about himself."

"Well... that's somewhat unexpected." Harry muttered, "As far as I could tell, Tom doesn't like it at all. I know for a fact that Lucius and Bella have no idea about his true name."

"Unexpected?" Barty asked incredulously, "Unexpected is knowing that you call him by his name." there was a little bit of awe in his tone. However the longing that briefly flashed in Barty's eyes was unexpected.

"Barty... do you like him?" he hadn't gotten that impression in his previous life, but Barty had been given Veritaserum and before that Harry had been more than a little out of it.

"What?" Barty actually squeaked and Harry almost chuckled, "Don't... don't say that! I'm not Bella!" he was almost pouting and Harry couldn't believe that this was supposed to be the one of the most feared Death Eaters in Tom's service. Though maybe he shouldn't be all that surprised, he himself had some moments where he was far from the mature, deadly man that he had become.

"Then why the longing?"

"The Dark Lord... he trained me. He looked after me. My father couldn't care less about me as long as I didn't shame the family or did anything to jeopardize his career. I started to see the Dark Lord as a father figure. Even though I knew that he never looked at me as more than a follower. I didn't think anything of it because he treated everyone the same way." Barty looked to be lost in memories, and there was a slightly bitter smile on his face, "Then you appeared." his eyes focused on Harry again, "He has been obsessed with you from the beginning." Barty informed him. "He didn't even consider Longbottom when he heard the prophecy. I asked him why, you know? He just said that he had this feeling about you. A feeling!" Barty sounded more than a little exasperated, "And then he became obsessed with killing you. And now, out of nowhere, he declares you his partner. His equal. He let's you do things that no one was ever allowed. Why are you so special? Why are you so close to him? How did he open up to you?"

Well that did explain the longing. He knew that feeling quite well. Having family that didn't care about you at all, you would try and find that love and acceptance anywhere you could. It was the reason why he had been so willingly blind to Dumbledore's manipulations. Why he had forgiven Ron after he had betrayed him in the middle of a war. Though, unlike Barty, he had chosen people who, no matter how flawed they were, could love him back. Fortunately Barty hadn't become bitter with Tom's inability to see him as a son. From what he could see Barty didn't even blame him.

"Tom and I," he started saying before he had truly thought about it, "We know each other rather well. He accepts me as an equal because I know how to kill him. On the other hand he knows the truth about me. He knows the true me, not the Boy-Who-Lived or the Gryffindor Golden Boy. You could say we respect each other and know how to destroy each other but we chose not to do it."

"You can kill him?" there was a hard edge to his tone.

"Yes, I know how to kill him."

"And he let you go, just like that?"

"He trusts me." Harry stated simple. Completely believing it. Tom had given him his soul. In any other situation it would have been a rather sweet and fluffy statement, however in their particular case it wasn't. Tom had given him his soul. Twice. The first time may have been an accident but the second was a deliberate move, a proof of trust.

"He doesn't trust anyone." Barty refuted.

"I'm not just anyone." he stated it without any arrogance or smugness. It was a simple fact. He _wasn't_ just anyone.

"I suppose you aren't." whispered Barty.

Harry smiled at Barty's easy acceptance. If only the other Death Eaters would be as simple.

* * *

Harry thanked Merlin when a knock to the door interrupted Snape's glaring. He didn't mind all that much if the bastard tried to use legilimency on him again, but, apparently, Snape was being cautions. He just glared and sneered and took points off for breathing. At least the bat hadn't told Dumbledore about what he had done. Well, he didn't think he had. Dumbledore wasn't given him the evil eye, nor was he looking at him with those twinkly blue eyes full of disappointment.

It was Colin Creevey and Harry remembered why he was there. The Weighing of the Wands. He had completely forgotten about that. A small smirk appeared briefly on his lips, he could hardly wait to meet Rita.

"Yes?" Snape said curtly.

"Please, sir, I'm supposed to take Harry Potter upstairs." Snape stared down his hooked nose at Colin, whose smile faded from his eager face.

"Potter has another hour of Potions to complete," said Snape coldly. "He will go upstairs when this class is finished."

Colin went pink.

"Sir - sir, Mr. Bagman wants him," he said nervously. "All the champions have got to go, I think they want to take photographs..."

He almost chuckled when he remembered just how embarrassed he had when Colin said that the first time. Though glancing at Ron he saw that he was behaving just as he had in his previous life.

"Very well, very well," Snape snapped. "Potter, leave your things here, I want you back down here later to test your antidote."

"Please, sir - he's got to take his things with him," squeaked Colin. "All the champions..."

"Very well!" said Snape. "Potter - take your bag and get out of my sight!"

Harry took his time packing his things. Snape didn't scare him anymore. Besides what could Snape do to him? Put him in detention? Also the infamous POTTER STINKS badges were nowhere to be seen, so he really didn't care about the sneers that the Slytherins were directing at him.

The walk towards the classroom they would be using was far longer than Harry remembered. Though it could be because Colin hadn't stopped talking for even a second since they left the potion's classroom.

When they finally separated Harry almost sighed in relief.

"Ah, here he is! Champion number four! In you come, Harry, in you come... nothing to worry about, it's just the wand weighing ceremony, the rest of the judges will be here in a moment." Bagman said as soon as he closed the door and Harry almost winced. He had forgotten just how cheerful the man was. "We have to check that your wands are fully functional, no problems, you know, as they're your most important tools in the tasks ahead," said Bagman. "The expert's upstairs now with Dumbledore. And then there's going to be a little photo shoot. This is Rita Skeeter," he added, gesturing toward the witch in magenta robes and Harry had to fight to keep the smirk from his face. "She's doing a small piece on the tournament for the Daily Prophet..."

"Maybe not that small, Ludo," said Rita, her eyes on Harry. "I wonder if I could have a little word with Harry before we start?" she said to Bagman, but still gazing fixedly at Harry. "The youngest champion, you know... to add a bit of color?"

"Certainly!" cried Bagman. "That is - if Harry has no objection?"

' _No, no objection at all..._ ' Harry purred in his mind.

"Lovely," said Rita, and in a second, her scarlet-taloned fingers had Harry's upper arm in a surprisingly strong grip, and she was steering him out of the room again and opening a nearby door. "We don't want to be in there with all that noise," she said. "Let's see . . . ah, yes, this is nice and cozy."

It was the broom cupboard and Harry chuckled. For the first time since she saw him Rita stopped talking and actually looked at him.

He smirked at her and her fake smile faltered a little.

"Hello Rita." he said politely, leaning against the wall, "I was wondering if you would be the one to cover the Tournament. I heard a lot about you."

Her smile was back and he felt like cackling.

"Oh? I had no idea you were a fan." she said, trying, and failing, to look seductive. He almost sneered, he wouldn't touch her even if she were the last being on earth. He may shag both females and males, the war had made him pretty open minded about whom he took to his bed. They had looked for comfort wherever they could find it, but he did have standards.

"Yes, fan..." he murmured, "I'm really impressed with your skills," he said, smiling, "Especially your skill in transfiguration." he saw her pale and smirked. "So... about this interview..."

"Oh, yes." Rita pulled herself together. She took out a roll of parchment and her quill. He was pleased to see that it wasn't the Quick-Quotes Quill. At least she was smart enough to understand where she stood without him having to spell it out for her.

"So, Mr. Potter,"

"You may call me Harry." he told her containing a chuckle. So different from his first interview.

"Harry than, what do you think about being entered in this dangerous tournament?" she asked him.

He smiled and was as polite as he could be, it was the perfect opportunity to get the public on his side, specially now that he had Rita on a leash. If she behaved he would never have to tighten said leash. She had a rather vicious quill, he wanted her to use it, as long as he kept her claws in when dealing with him.

This time, when Dumbledore barged in, their time together had been far more profitable. She got an interview and he would get good publicity. Rita would make sure of that.

"Dumbledore!" cried Rita, with every appearance of delight, far more truthfully than the previous time, "How are you?" she asked, standing up and holding out one of her large, mannish hands to Dumbledore. "I hope you saw my piece over the summer about the International Confederation of Wizards' Conference?"

"Enchantingly nasty," said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling. "I particularly enjoyed your description of me as an obsolete dingbat."

Harry had to contain himself to stop himself from snickering. He would have to ask Tom if he had seen that article. He was sure that he would find it just as funny.

"I was just making the point that some of your ideas are a little old-fashioned, Dumbledore, and that many wizards in the street -"

"I will be delighted to hear the reasoning behind the rudeness, Rita," said Dumbledore, and Harry almost pouted, he wanted to know what the wizards in the streets thought about those ideas. Not that he trusted anything out of Rita's mouth or quill, but it was better than nothing. "But I'm afraid we will have to discuss the matter later. The Weighing of the Wands is about to start, and it cannot take place if one of our champions is hidden in a broom cupboard."

The Weighing of the Wands was just like he remembered, and he was quite happy when they were done with it. He had far better things to do. Still that night when he went to bed he had the felling that he had forgotten something.

* * *

He remembered quite clearly what he had forgotten the following afternoon when he was again hiding in Barty's quarters.

The article about him that Rita had written was quite tasteful and it had achieved what he had intended. However, much to his annoyance, it had only increased the obsessiveness of his fan-girls and now, to his horror, there were even fan-boys present in the hordes of students that tried to comfort the poor Boy-Who-Lived.

Though, no matter how horrible that particular situation was, it wasn't what he had forgotten. He had been playing with Barty, though said Death Eater would have called it tormenting, testing his elemental powers on him when an owl with a bright red envelope landed near him.

He stared at it in horror for a few seconds, he even ignored Barty's snickering so focused was he on the dreaded envelope. He even glanced around to see if there was someone, _anyone_ , aside from him to whom the owl could be delivering said envelope.

It started smoking and, with a shacking hand, he untied the letter from the owl. The second it was released of it's burden the owl flew away and the letter exploded.

"HARRY JAMES POTTER WHEN I'LL GET MY HANDS ON YOU I'M GONNA... GONNA... I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'LL DO BUT I'LL DO SOMETHING! ARE YOU SET YOU TO GIVE ME A HEART-ATTACK? IS THAT IT? BECAUSE LET ME TELL YOU, YOU ARE WELL ON YOUR WAY TO ACCOMPLISH JUST THAT!... Well, now that I got that off my chest I feel much better," the howler continued in a normal voice and Harry almost sighed, he was far too shocked to feel relieved that the screaming was over, "Why didn't you tell me that you had been entered into that Tournament? After you told me about that dream you had at the beginning of the summer..." there was a sigh, "I'm sorry I shouted, but I'm worried about you Harry. I'll be in Hogsmead shortly, when I'm there I'll send you a letter so that we can meet. Don't even try to talk me out of it. I'll see you soon pup. Oh, that's right, don't worry about people hearing what I said, there's a charm on it, only people who know the truth about me and who you trust will be able to hear what it says. Everyone else will hear a love confession from a fan-girl... payback for worrying me pup."

Well, now he knew what he had forgotten. He hadn't told Sirius about the Tournament. It didn't really surprise him that he had forgotten. He had been thinking about a lot of things and even though he had promised his dad that he would be thinking about telling Sirius the truth, he had been delaying it. He hadn't seen Sirius in so long. Even now that he had lived his life, had children, Sirius was still a wound that he wasn't sure had healed. He hadn't really dealt with Sirius' death and after the war everyone was so focused on moving on that he just went with it. And now... Now he didn't know how he would react to seeing Sirius again.

"Well... Black always had an impressive set of lungs on him." Barty muttered and Harry had to make a real effort to hide his shock. Barty had heard what Sirius said? He trusted Barty? He hadn't expected that. He hadn't realized that he had gotten so close to the man. Though maybe it shouldn't surprise him, Barty was the person, aside from Tom, with whom he could be himself without fearing the consequences.

He chuckled when he saw Barty's little smirk.

"You can say that again," he muttered, "He must have gotten it from his mother." he remarked, remembering the infernal painting of Walburga Black.

Barty got a faraway look then started laughing.

"You know what?" he said between crazy sounding chuckles, "I think you're right. I was friends with Regulus, Black's brother, I met their mother." he shuddered a little when he said that and Harry could empathize. If the painting was what it was, he would rather not meet the real thing.

"So, what are you going to do?" Barty asked him when he calmed down.

"Do? About what?"

"Black. Does he know that you joined the Dark Lord?"

"He doesn't. No one, aside from you, knows."

He saw Barty's sympathetic look and almost scoffed. He didn't need his sympathy. He knew that it was likely that he would lose all the friends he had when people found out that he had sided with Voldemort. They would never understand. He hoped they would never have to know why he became who he was. What he was. He wasn't a naïve child anymore. Even if they cursed his name, the day he was born, he didn't care. Not anymore. He hadn't cared for a very long time. Even so he wouldn't lie to himself. He knew it would hurt a lot the day that they fully turned their backs on him, but he also knew that it wouldn't break him.

"I need you to cover for me tonight." he suddenly said. "I'll be staying away from Hogwarts for longer than usual." it was time to set plans in motion.

All playfulness vanished from Barty's expression and he bowed his head.

"As you wish, my Lord." he replied and a malicious little smirk appeared on Harry's lip, it was time to change the world.

* * *

"Nice article." was the first thing Tom told him when Harry entered his office.

"I know." he replied, sprawling in the armchair in front of Tom's desk. "The place looks different." he remarked, looking around. He had noticed as soon as he entered the old Riddle Manor.

"Well, now that I actually have a body I can take care of the Manor's state."

"I'm just surprised that you would actually do it. As far as I know you hate everything related to your father."

Tom sighed and leaned back. Sometimes he forgot just how well Harry knew him. All his dark secretes were no longer secrets, at least not to Harry.

"I do." he replied, looking into those deadly green eyes, "But it's time to make this house my own. I don't want to lose anything to them." he replied and Harry nodded.

Yes, he could understand the desire. He had felt the same, hadn't he? When the muggles were killing them left and right. He hadn't left his home, he hadn't let them take more from him than they already had.

"I'll be warding this place tomorrow." Tom informed him, "I'll need your blood to add you."

Harry smiled at him. These little things Tom was willing to do showed just how much he was trusting him. It was... heartwarming, for lack of a better word. He truly hadn't thought that Tom would be willing to do as much as he was doing. He had thought that Tom would simply decide not to kill him and little more than that.

"I was wondering," Harry started changing the subject, knowing that Tom still wasn't all that comfortable with being more... humane, "Do you want to go hunting?"

That caught Tom's interest immediately.

"Hunting?" trying to sound nonchalantly, though not able to completely mask the excitement in his eyes.

"Yes. I think it's about time that we spend some quality time together." Harry remarked.

Tom laughed, his eyes shining with sadistic glee. That smirk and those ruby eyes made him look demonic and a malicious chuckle left Harry. He knew that he would enjoy their games far too much.

"By all means... start the hunt, my dear Harry." Tom almost purred.

* * *

He knew that something was wrong the moment he woke up. He was in his room, he knew that, however it felt _wrong_. As if something was there that shouldn't have been.

"He can feel us." a cold, deadly voice said. Startling him so much that he almost jumped out of his bed.

"Yes, a gift from the blood that he hates and envies so much." another voice remarked.

Something in their tones made him shiver, he knew, just as he knew that something had been wrong, that he was in danger.

Slowly a light lit his room and he saw two people stand side by side. One look was all it took. He knew who they were.

He may not be able to do magic, but he grew up during the war in the Magical World. He had been eleven when the war ended, and twelve when his parents left him in an orphanage.

He recalled his father coming home one day, looking as if he had seen a demon. He told his mother that he had seen _Him_ , that he looked like a fallen angel, though he had the eyes of the devil. The Dark Lord.

The other one... well, even though he had never seen him the scar gave him away. He was _their_ Savior. The Boy-Who-Lived.

For a moment he believed that he was having a nightmare. It was the only explanation. One of the people he was seeing was supposed to be dead and the other... he doubted that there was any reason at all for them to be together aside from it being a horrible nightmare.

" _Crucio_."

The voice was soft, he swore there was almost a tenderness to it. Though all thoughts flew from his mind when the curse hit. He screamed.

Harry chuckled when he heard the inhumane scream that was ripped from the man's mouth. How long had he longed to hear it? How long had he dreamed about it? He didn't recall, he just knew that it was even better than what he had imagined.

On some level Tom knew that Harry wasn't the same boy he had met. He knew that he had changed. But nothing drove it home as much as watching him crucioing the man in front of them. It wasn't even the fact that he was torturing the man, it was the look in his eyes. They were shining with savage elation and Tom was sure that he had never seen anything more captivating than that expression.

There was something just so _wrong_ with seeing the Boy-Who-Lived torturing someone.

Maybe that was why he like it so much.

Harry canceled the curse and chuckled again when the man curled in on himself, whimpering and begging.

"Do you want to have a turn, Tom?" he offered generously.

"Well aren't you generous?" muttered Tom, "I thought that we were going hunting... This isn't really a hunt." he remarked.

Harry nodded solemnly, completely ignoring the man that was trying to crawl away from them.

"You're right." he replied, "I apologize. I promised a hunt, and a hunt you'll get." he said seriously.

He quickly stupefied the man and transfigured him into a small wooden figurine. He put it in his pocket and turned around.

Tom knew what Harry was asking when he turned towards with and held out his hand. Before he even really thought about it he took his hand and prepared to be side-along-apparated. That, more than anything else, showed just how much he trusted him. He acted without analyzing every bit of information. It was very unlike him. Though he guessed that Harry was unlike anyone he had ever met. It was bound to affect how he acted around him, wasn't it?

They appeared in a forest clearing and he looked around curiously.

Harry took out the figurine and set it on the floor. He transfigured it back and canceled the stupefy.

"If you can get out of this forest you'll live." Harry told the man, "You have a five minute head start." when a few seconds passed and the man was still sprawled on the floor looking at them with terror written all over his face, Harry made shooing motions with his hands, "Tick-tock..."

The man scrambled away from them as fast as he could, tripping more than once. Harry's chuckles following him in the otherwise silent forest.

"I have dreamed about this for such a long time." Harry muttered.

Tom nodded. Even though Harry hadn't told him who it was, he could guess.

The squib who had doomed them.

"You never told me his name." Tom remarked.

"His name is Jason White. His birth parents named him Lucian Jason Bletchley."

Bletchley? He knew that family. They were pure-bloods, dark. However they had never joined him. He hadn't known that they had a squib child.

"Ready for the hunt?" Harry asked him, a slightly maniac smile on his lips and he couldn't help but chuckle.

"Let's hunt."

Harry cackled and ran into the forest, feeling Tom following him.

He followed the weak feel of magic coming from White. He almost felt overwhelmed with the adrenalin flowing through him. He let his magic flow and felt Tom's join his. He knew that Tom was enjoying the hunt just as much.

Tom suddenly stopped and Harry looked at him curiously.

"Either he got lost, or he's trying to mislead us." Tom told him. He closed his eyes and understood what Tom meant. The magical trail was leading in three different directions and it was impossible to tell which one was older since they couldn't have more than a minute or two of difference.

"The first one to find him wins?" Harry suggested.

"Hmm... What do I win?"

"What do you want?" he asked almost warily.

"I want you to comply with one request from me. Just one, without any complain." seeing Harry's expression he added, "It won't be anything that would bound you or harm you in anyway. I don't think your father would allow that even if I tried."

Harry relaxed and smiled.

"Alright. What do I get than?"

"The pleasure of my company?" Tom suggested and Harry laughed.

"Really, Tom... I do wonder if you would be able to pleasure me." he laughed again when he saw Tom's expression and ran in the direction he had been taking. He couldn't believe that he had actually said that, but he couldn't resist. And honestly... Tom was quite handsome. Though he had no intention of starting anything with him. He may have regained his sanity however that doesn't mean that he was any more connected to his emotions than he had been. He had always been a detached kind of person. If he didn't know any better he would say that Tom was a sociopath.

He shook his head and focused on the hunt.

He knew he had taken the wrong one when he noticed that the trail was backtracking. He cursed and upped his speed. He wasn't worried about Jason escaping, but he didn't want to lose to Tom. Who knew what he would ask for.

However as soon as he focused on another trail he heard a horrifying scream throughout the forest and cursed. It looked like Tom beat him to it.

He followed Tom's magic and found them soon after.

White was writhing on the floor, trying to rip his skin off.

He stopped beside Tom, observing his work.

"What did you cast on him?" he asked curiously.

"Just a curse that makes him believe that there are bugs under his skin."

Harry looked at him impressed. He knew the curse, it usually didn't have such effects. It was more of a prank curse than anything else.

However when he saw Tom's smug look he scowled. He had almost forgotten that he had lost.

Tom canceled the curse and they let White recover his breath. They couldn't end their fun to early.

"Why?" White whispered, looking terrified.

"Why what?" asked Harry, though he knew what he meant.

"Why are you doing this?"

"You are being punished for your sins." Harry replied.

"Sins? What sins? I didn't do anything!" Harry was surprised to see that White was able to yell at them.

"No. No, you didn't." Harry whispered, "And you never will." he stated fiercely. "Do not think that I don't know what is in your mind. How you hate us because we have what you don't. Do you think I will allow you to destroy us? Do you think I will let you live knowing the danger you pose to us?"

"I don't hate you." White screamed, "Please don't hurt me. I'll never do anything to you, to anyone. Please!" the last was no more than a whimper, his strength having finally left him.

"You do. You envy us. Do not lie to us." Harry snarled and White curled in on himself. "You are going to die for your future sins."

"No. No, no, no, no. Please." White whimpered.

" _Crucio_!" Harry snarled, hating seeing White looking so pathetic. He had no right to beg. No right to look so defenseless.

"If you don't ease up on the curse his mind will break before we kill him." Tom remarked, though he did nothing to stop Harry. He knew what he must be feeling. He didn't need to live through the war to know just how bad it had been. To know just how much suffering the man in front of them had caused. It would be Harry's choice what they would do to him. He understood the need for revenge. He would just make sure that Harry, his equal, didn't get lost in it.

Harry took a deep breath, slightly surprised at how he calmed down instantly as soon as he heard Tom's voice, and ended the curse.

"Have a turn." he told Tom, smiling when he saw the sadistic pleasure in his eyes.

"With pleasure."

As he watched Tom torturing White he had to admit that Tom had made it into an art form. Every scream was like music and Tom moved with a fluid grace that made it almost look like some sort of dance. He hadn't thought that it was possible for torture to be so hypnotically beautiful.

"What do you want to do with him?" Tom asked after he had suspended White in the air in front of them.

"Kill him." Harry answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Yes, I imagined that. However what I was wondering is; do you want people to know that he was murdered or would you prefer if people though that he just passed away in his sleep from a heart-attack or something similar."

"Does it matter?" Harry asked, honestly he just wanted him dead.

"It will influence which curses we use on him."

"I don't care. Be creative."

The smile he got in return could only be described as evil, and he knew that there was something wrong with him when the only thing he thought about said smile was that it looked rather adorable on Tom.

"I created this curse a week before I had that little incident that destroyed my body. I never had the opportunity to try it out. Want to see how it works?" he asked, and Harry had to laugh when he saw just how much Tom looked like an overexcited child that had been told that he could have all the sweets in the sweets shop.

"Sure." he replied with a smile.

" _Ukate Bidragen_." Tom whispered and a bright purple light shot from his wand and hit White.

Harry watched fascinated as strips of skin were ripped from White's back. It was a rather slow process and truly agonizing if the screams coming from White were anything to go by.

"You created this?" Harry asked, a little bit of awe in his tone.

He may be almost eighty but he had never created any spells. Before the war he had been busy with being an auror and had dedicated himself more to the Dark Arts and their defense. During the war it was all about surviving. After the war... well there hadn't been an after.

"You truly are the most brilliant wizard to have been born." he muttered.

Tom could help but feel smug. He was a vain man, knowing that Harry found him brilliant was a big boost to his ego. Not that he needed one, of course, but it didn't hurt.

"Though that wasn't Latin, was it?"

"Of course not." replied Tom, looking curiously at another strip of skin that fell to the ground. "Not all spells are in Latin. Do you know why we associate words with our spells?"

"It's because it is easier to direct the magic to do what we want. We are more focused if we think about the word, more focused on what we want, more focused on our will." Harry replied, partially ignoring the screams and whimpers coming from White.

"That's correct. That is also the reason why most of them are in Latin. It is easy to learn and by knowing what the words mean it becomes easier to direct the magic. However that doesn't mean that we can't use other languages. Many families that have their own spells create them in different languages. In most cases it's to stop other people from using them, or at least from using them correctly. Pronunciation is the key in many of those situations. Though, as you know, when you become well enough acquainted with the magic and if your focus and will is strong enough, you don't need the words."

Harry nodded. It made perfect sense. He knew most of that, of course, but he had no doubt that Tom was much more knowledgeable than him. Besides, Tom was a genius.

"Let me try it." he said and Tom nodded, canceling the curse on White.

" _Ukate Bidragen."_ the curse hit White, however Harry knew immediately that he hadn't cast it quite right. The strip of skin wasn't torn from White completely. It was just hanging there on his back. He ignored White's whimpers and looked at Tom.

"You have to pronounce it a little bit better." Tom instructed him.

It took two more tries but by the end of it Harry was able to cast the curse perfectly.

He studied the man hanging in the air in front of them with morbid curiosity.

"Did you do something to stop him from losing consciousness?"

Tom looked rather pleased with himself.

"Yes and that stops him from dying, at least for a while."

"What did you do?"

"I tied him to my magic. He won't die as long as my magic is feeding him."

"Please. No. Please..."

Harry chuckled when he heard White's pleading.

"Please. Please."

"Please what?" he asked, chuckling.

"Let me die." was the rasped reply and Harry laughed.

"Do you think death will be a mercy for you?"

Tom stopped a shiver from racing down his spine. Harry's enemies would never find peace, would they? To many death was a mercy, freedom. But for Harry's enemies... They would suffer till Harry was through with them. It didn't matter if they were alive or death. He had this feeling that if hell didn't exist then Harry would make one for those who he believed deserved it. Did that make Harry the Devil?

Not for the first time Tom was thankful that he and Harry were no longer enemies.

"Let me assure you... it won't." Harry's voice was cold, merciless and Tom felt a smile tug at his lips. He would never admit it but he liked this side of Harry. This dark, twisted person he had become.

He was sorry that Harry had to suffer as much as he had, but he was happy that Harry became the person he was now. Twisted, dark, cruel, merciless. Just like him. But most of all, just as broken as him.

"Why don't you show me some of what you know?" Tom asked him.

Harry chuckled and shook his head.

"I never really tried torturing just for the fun of it." Harry admitted.

"You should try it. It's really therapeutic."

Harry snorted and threw Tom a boyish smile.

"If you say so." he looked at White again and his smile became feral, " _Defodio_."

An ear shattering scream echoed through the forest as White's right eye was gauged out. It dropped to the forest floor with a wet sounding _plop_.

"I may not known many torturing curses. But I can be rather creative with the spells that I do have."

"I can see." Tom almost whispered and Harry was surprised when he turned around and saw the hunger in his eyes. He looked away and focused on White, doing his best to erase how those blood red eyes looked.

The last thing he wanted was to become attracted to Tom.

A light blue light left his wand and he heard the bones in White's left arm shatter. A second later another blue light lit the night and he heard White's right arm shatter. He chuckled. So Tom wanted to play.

" _Accio_." he summoned the shattered bones from the man's left arm, almost ripping the arm apart.

A moment later the same happened to the right arm.

He laughed and turned around to look at Tom. Tom had this gleeful look in his eyes and looked so young and full of life. He couldn't help but admire him.

He raised his wand, still looking at Tom, the tip glowing bright green. Tom mimicked him.

" _Avada Kedavra_." they whispered in unison.

White's lifeless body fell to the forest floor.

"That was fun." remarked Harry and Tom laughed.

"Shall we go home?" he asked and Harry nodded. Not even wondering when he started to think of Riddle Manor as home.

A quick apparition later and they were in Tom's office, sitting in the armchairs by the fire.

"Did you come only to go hunting?" Tom asked, after he had poured himself and Harry a glass of red vine.

Harry shook his head and leaned back on his armchair.

"I think we need to plan a few things. Especially regarding Sirius."

"What about Black?"

"One of your horcruxes is in Grimmauld Place. The best way to get it is through Sirius. Though we would have to tell him the truth. At least the truth about me siding with you."

"We?" Tom couldn't help but sound slightly incredulous. He remembered Black. It was far more likely that he would start to curse him as soon as he saw him instead of listening to him.

"Yes, we. We are partners. This kind of decisions... we make them together. If you don't feel comfortable with telling Sirius that you are back, then we won't." part of Harry was hoping for Tom to say that he didn't want Sirius to know.

"What do we do if he doesn't accept this?"

"You know that there are thousands of ways to make sure that he doesn't talk."

Tom took another sip of his drink and sighed. He wanted to say no, he truly did. Though he knew what Black meant to Harry. He had already taken so much from him, he didn't really want to take any more. And Harry was right, there were ways to make sure that Black wouldn't talk.

"When do you want to tell him?" he ask his equal and saw Harry close his eyes and take a deep breath. He almost smiled, for someone as powerful as Harry he sure was insecure about the most ordinary things.

"I'll be meeting him next Hogsmead weekend, I'll bring him here then. Is that alright?"

"Yes. You'll have to come by tomorrow so that I can tie you into the wards and give you control over them. Are you that nervous about it?" he asked Harry.

"I don't know." Harry answered after a few seconds. "It's been such a long time since I saw him. I just never really dealt with his death. I don't know how I'll react. A part of me is afraid that I won't care one way or another." Harry admitted, "I don't want to lose my humanity."

"Harry..." Tom took a deep breath, "You aren't human. You may have been born human but now... you are Death's son."

"I know." Harry sounded somewhat broken, "I just... I am afraid that I'll lose myself in that, do you know what I mean?"

Tom nodded. He knew exactly what he meant. From what Harry had told him... he had lost himself to Voldemort. He had created Voldemort for a reason, though he had never wanted to be only that, to be a mess of anger and hate and little else.

"I do." he said, "I don't know if it will happen or not... though I can promise to do my best to bring you back if you do lose yourself." it was the least he could do, since Harry had brought him back as well.

Harry saw the sincerity in his eyes and smiled. Siding with Tom was fast becoming one of the best decisions he had ever made.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to have this out sooner, but it was my birthday and then Christmas and I just didn't have all that much time to write. I hope you all like this chapter :) I had a lot of fun with Tom and Harry bonding.
> 
> Hope all of you had a great Christmas and that you have a great New Year.
> 
> Happy Holidays :)


	6. Picking up the pieces

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J. K. Rowling. No money is being made.

* * *

**Chapter 6 – Picking up the pieces**

Harry couldn't quite contain the groan of dismay when he woke up on the morning of the Hogsmead weekend. He was really dreading his upcoming encounter with Sirius. He wasn't ashamed to admit that he was rather scared. He didn't want to face his godfather alone. Why had he told Hermione not to go with him? Oh right, because he was going to tell Sirius that he had joined Voldemort. Who's bright idea had that been? And, more importantly in his opinion, why the hell hadn't Tom talked him out of it? He was supposed to be sane now.

He sighed. There was no need to delay the inevitable. It wasn't as if he was going to his execution... it was just a talk between godfather and godson. Nothing more. He snorted, sure... nothing more.

He got out of bed, ignoring Ron's glare, and proceeded with his morning ritual. He should be out of the castle before the other students started to leave, it would decrease the risk of any of them seeing him and possibly follow him.

He was almost out of the castle when he abruptly stopped. A little smirk appeared on his lips and he turned around, almost jogging up the stairs. He couldn't take Hermione, but that didn't mean he had to go alone.

A few minutes later found Harry bursting into Barty's bedroom, startling the man and having to dodge a curse that was fired at him from the sleepy eyed Death Eater.

"Really, what is it with you and Tom? It's always cast first and ask questions later." Harry grumbled, sending a small glare at the man on the bed.

"Harry?" Barty asked, squinting at him. Harry would never say it out loud but Barty did look quite cute, "What are you doing here? How did you get in?" he was looking a little more awake. He sighed and shook his head, "No, never mind. I don't want to know. What are you doing here?"

"I want you to come with me to Hogsmead." Harry told him, "Not as Moody." he added, "Just use some glamor till we reach the place we are going, and then you can be yourself."

When Barty did nothing more than stare at him, he sighed.

"You have ten minutes, I'll be waiting in the living room." he informed Barty and turned around. He chuckled when he heard Barty curse and stumble out of the bed.

Five minutes later Barty was leaving the bedroom, grumbling under his breath. Harry smirked, it was so much fun to aggravate Barty.

"Ready to go?" he asked, after he saw the glamor being cast. It was still Barty, but younger, maybe around seventeen, with slightly fuller cheeks and darker hair. It were rather simple changes but it was doubtful that anyone would recognize him as Barty Crouch Jr. especially because he was supposed to be dead.

"Yeah." Barty muttered, he clearly wasn't a morning person, "Just where are we going exactly?"

"Oh... you know, just meeting Sirius." he replied, leaving behind a spluttering Barty.

"Why are you taking me to meet Black?" Barty asked as soon as they were out of the castle, keeping his voice low. There weren't that many people around, so the probability of being overheard was rather low, but there was no reason to tempt fate.

"Does there have to be a reason? Maybe I just want to spend some time with you and I'm using Sirius as an excuse."

Barty looked at him incredulously, then he snorted.

"You may be rather attractive, but I enjoy being alive." was the muttered reply.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Harry asked him perplexed. True he hadn't expected for Barty to play along, but the second part of the answer was slightly puzzling.

Barty stopped abruptly, his eyes widening when they looked at Harry, then he started laughing.

"What?"

Barty got his laughing under control. He shook his head and a small fond smile appeared on his face. One Harry hadn't seen on the man yet. Barty was quite attractive but that small smile made him look gorgeous and Harry had to stop himself from blushing. He silently cursed his hormones and his pale complexion. He was ashamed to admit that the blushing wasn't something he had been able to control, not even later in his life.

"Let's go meet that godfather of yours." Barty said, grabbing his hand and dragging him along, he looked far more enthusiastic about it than he had moments before. Harry followed along, doing his best not to notice just how warm Barty's hand felt and cursing his hormones all the while.

As soon as they approached the path that lead to the caves he stopped short, his grip on Barty's hand tightening slightly. Barty stopped as well. He looked back at Harry and, even though it was masked, worry shone in his eyes. However Harry saw none of it. His eyes were fixed on the black grim-like dog that was sitting on the path. His breath caught. Padfoot.

"Harry."

Harry looked up, a little startled when he noticed just how close Barty was.

"Everything is going to be fine." Barty whispered.

"How can you be so sure?" he hated how insecure he sounded. He had lived through war for Merlin's sake, this thing shouldn't be affecting him so. But it was, it always would, because it was Sirius.

Barty's big, warm hand settled on his cheek. His thumb caressed his cheekbone.

"Black loves you. He will always love you. He may not understand, he may not agree, but I know that he will never stop loving you." Barty replied, his voice was so gentle that Harry let himself be engulfed by it. He was far to tempted to trust those words. He took a deep breath and smiled at Barty.

"Thank you." he muttered, getting on his tip-toes and kissing his cheek. He chuckled when he saw the slightly stunned look Barty had.

He looked back towards Padfoot, who had noticed them and was wagging his tail, looking like an overgrown puppy. He smiled and pulled Barty along.

"Hey Padfoot," he whispered when they were close enough, "Lead the way."

Padfoot tilted his head to the side, his eyes landing on Barty. The question was clear in his eyes.

"I trust him, he knows the truth." was all Harry said. He almost winced when Padfoot just turned around and started leading them to the cave he was hiding in. He was afraid that kind of trust would disappear as soon as Sirius found out the truth.

As soon as they were inside the cave Sirius changed back and had Harry in a hug before anyone could blink. He felt Barty tense beside him, but aside from that he was glad that the Death Eater didn't react.

"Sirius," Harry whispered, hugging his godfather back, "Missed you."

"Missed you too, pup." Harry chuckled when he heard the dreaded nickname. He had missed it. Sirius let him go, then turned to look at Barty. "So, who's your friend?"

"His name's Barty." said Harry, completely ignoring Barty's incredulous look.

"Nice to meet you, Barty. I'm Sirius Black, mass murderer extraordinaire." Sirius gave a dramatic little bow, a demented grin on his lips and Barty actually chuckled.

"Well, at the very least the Black madness didn't skip you." Barty muttered.

"Be nice." Harry chided, though he was chuckling as well.

Harry conjured two small couches and sat down on one, dragging Barty down with him. He missed Sirius wide eyes at this. Sometimes he completely forgot that he shouldn't be able to perform certain spells.

Sirius sat down slowly, looking at Harry with curious eyes.

"How are you, Sirius?"

"I'm fine." Sirius replied, waiving the concern away, "I may not be able to sleep in some five star hotel, but it's much better than Azkaban. How are you, Harry? Do you have any leads about who entered you into the Tournament and why they did it?"

"Actually... I know who put my name in the goblet and why they did it. It's all been taken care of. That's one of the things I wanted to talk to you about. Though I'm not quite sure where to start."

"Usually the beginning is a good place." Sirius said after a few moments of silence, he looked far more serious than usual. For a moment Harry had forgotten that Sirius had an incredibly sharp mind, since he usually was rather laid back, but now it seemed that he was completely focused.

"Right... the beginning..." Harry muttered, "I don't know if that is the best place to start." he admitted, "Let me ask you a question, why do you hate the Dark? Because it's the Dark or because of their policies?"

Sirius gaze sharpened, then his eyes narrowed.

"I'll assume that all of this is related and you actually have a reason to ask that." seeing Harry nod Sirius leaned back on the couch, he looked at ease though his eyes gave him away, "Alright. I hate the policies. I am a Black, no matter how much my mother wished I wasn't. My magic is more inclined towards Dark magic. Even so I couldn't, I  _don't_ , agree with their policies." Sirius sighed, his shoulders slumping a little, "Your parents knew, of course, they never held my magic affiliation against me."

"And if their policies changed?"

Sirius snorted.

"I doubt that Voldemort would change, Harry, and the Dark  _is_ Voldemort." he replied seriously.

Harry nodded, slightly lost in thought. That answer revealed far more than Sirius probably wanted. Though it was much better than what Harry had hoped for.

"Do you trust me, Sirius?"

"With my life." the answer came without a second thought and Harry felt his heart swell. He could only hope that after everything was said and done that would remain the same.

He held out his hand for Sirius, hoping he would take it without questioning it. He did and Harry almost sighed in relief.

"You too Barty." he said, holding his hand out for Barty, "He put wards up, you aren't keyed in."

Barty nodded, understanding where they were doing, and took his hand. Not a second later there was a low pop and the cave was empty, save for a slumbering hypogriff.

"I didn't know you could apparate." was the first thing Sirius said as soon as they landed.

Barty snorted, ignoring Harry's death glare; which should be somewhat commended. His death glare was a thing worthy of nightmares, or so he told himself.

"You will learn rather quickly that Harry is able to do many things that most people don't know he can. It's better for your sanity if you just go with it." Barty remarked.

"Do you want me to curse you?" Harry asked pleasantly, when he noticed just how ineffective his glare was being. "You can drop the glamor now." he added, keeping his eye on Sirius.

A second later Sirius' eyes widened and he took several steps back.

"Crouch?" it was no more than a whisper, "You're supposed to be dead."

"And you are supposed to be the Dark Lord's right hand. Funny, I don't remember seeing you anywhere when my Lord called." Barty snarled back. He was a little touchy about his supposed death.

"Barty." it was enough of a warning for Barty to bow his head, giving a silent apology. They both knew that it wasn't the best of times to aggravate Sirius.

It was also enough for Sirius to focus on him.

"What's going on Harry?" it was a demand, though Harry was grateful that Sirius hadn't drawn his wand.

"It's a long story." Harry replied, "Just... hear me out, alright?" Harry pointed towards an armchair, almost begging for Sirius to take it.

"Alright." Sirius replied slowly, taking the offered seat.

"I joined Voldemort." Harry stated bluntly and Barty snorted.

"That was rather short." the Death Eater muttered, earning a glare from Harry.

"I'm not a Death Eater." Harry continued when Sirius did nothing else but stare at him, "I don't have his mark," he showed him his unmarked forearm, just to make a point, "I'm his equal. A second Dark Lord, if you will. Though I do not agree with most of the policies that Tom had in the previous war. I do not believe in blood purity." Harry made sure to stress that last bit, "I abhor muggles, not because they are muggles but because of what they can do." he stopped then, letting Sirius digest all the information.

"You joined Voldemort." Sirius whispered, "You joined that monster?"

"He's not a monster, Sirius." Harry told him firmly, "You may not agree with my choices, but I must ask you not to call Tom a Monster. He is a magical prodigy, he's a genius, the most brilliant wizard I have ever meet. If there is anyone on this earth able to save us from the muggles, it's him"

"I'll call him a monster because that is what he is!" exclaimed Sirius jumping to his feet, "You don't know anything about the first war, Harry. All the atrocities he committed. People are afraid to say his name for a reason, Harry!"

"Sit down!" Harry ordered, his voice cold and harsh. Sirius was shocked into compliance, "Don't talk to me about atrocities, just  _don't_." he doubted that anything Tom could have done could ever compare to what the muggles did to them. "It was war. He did what he had to do. I don't agree whit many of the things he did, but I do understand why he did them. However we aren't here to talk about the first Blood War, we aren't even here to talk about Tom. We are here to talk about me, about my choices."

"Yes, your choices," Sirius said, his eyes dark, "Let's talk about those choices."

"Will you actually listen to what I have to say, or will you ignore it completely and cling to your preconceived notions?" Harry asked him, a slightly bitter edge slipping into his tone. His dad could have told him just how difficult talking to Sirius was going to be.

"I'll listen." Sirius replied, his eyes warming a little.

"I brought Voldemort back. I wasn't threatened, I wasn't imperiused, I was acting on my own free will. I did it because I believe that Tom is the only one who could save our world." Harry sighed and leaned back on his sofa. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "What do you think will happen when the muggles find out about us? And they  _will_  find us." a small bitter smile appeared on his lips and he continued when no answer came, "They'll kill us. They'll treat us as animals and experiment on us."

"They wouldn't..." Sirius started, but a harsh laugh from Harry stopped him.

"They will. Things haven't changed. There was a reason why we separated or societies. The same base emotions that made them hunt us then will make them hunt us now. They fear us, so they'll kill us. The only difference is that they have much more powerful weapons now. When they hunt us, when they declare war on us, we won't survive." Harry stated firmly, his eyes darker than ever.

"How can you be so sure of that?" Sirius asked him, narrowing his eyes.

"It's basic human nature." Harry replied.

"No... That's not it." Sirius muttered. "You're speaking as if you know, as if you lived it."

Harry's smile was bitter and somewhat self-deprecating and Sirius eyes widened slightly.

"Barty... Go get Tom for me, please. He should be in his office." Harry ordered before Sirius could say anything else.

"Yes, my Lord." Barty replied, getting up from his seat.

"You said you trusted me." Harry said as soon as Barty was gone, "Then trust me in this, Sirius." he almost begged, "I'm not asking you to join Voldemort, I'm just asking you to trust me. I know what I am doing, and the war that is coming will be nothing like the first one. Our target isn't the magical beings, it's the muggles. We have no intention of harming magical beings, however if they get in our way..."

"You are asking me not to get in your way." it was more a statement than a question, but Harry nodded anyway, "I... I don't know if I can do that, Harry. He killed James... Lily..."

"I see..." whispered Harry, closing his eyes.

Abruptly he got up from his seat, leaving the small parlour, not even noticing Tom as he passed him by the entrance.

No matter how much he had told himself that he was prepared for Sirius to reject him, a small part of him couldn't help but feel hope. He  _wanted_  Sirius with him, even after all these years. Blindly he found his way to Tom's office and fell into his usual armchair. He closed his eyes and tried to get his emotions under control.

He almost jumped out of his skin when he felt a pair of arms wrap around him. The panic stopped as soon as it appeared, the familiar scent invading his senses. He couldn't really place what it was, but he knew it as well as he knew himself.

"Father." he whispered, relaxing into the strong arms holding him.

"Shh." Death whispered, his arms tightening around Harry, "Everything's alright."

"He doesn't want me." he hated how broken he sounded.

"Of course he does." Death assured him, "That mortal loves you with everything he is. It's just a big shock."

"I'm sorry." Harry whispered after a few moments of silence, "I'm supposed to be old enough to not behave like an angst ridden child." he didn't want to disappoint Death, he wanted to be strong, he had to be strong.

He squeaked, a very manly squeak mind you, when he was picked up and deposited on a rather comfortable lap. He couldn't help the blush that painted his cheeks when he noticed that he was sitting on Death's lap. It didn't help that he was a rather small teen, thanks to the loving care of the Dursleys. He hid his face in Death's neck when he realized that he didn't really want to leave his new sitting place. When a hand started petting his hair he almost melted into a puddle. This was something he had always wanted when he was younger. To be comforted like this, it was all he had ever wanted.

"Harry," Death said in a soothing voice, "Your soul, compared to my own, is nothing but a toddler. It recognizes me as it's father, it is natural that it would seek comfort from me." Death explained patiently, "It is an instinctual reaction. Nothing to be ashamed of. Truthfully, I enjoy it very much when you do seek me. You are my son, Harry. I will always be here for you, always care for you, always comfort you. If you break down I'll pick up the pieces. Do you understand?"

"But I'm over fifty years old. I had children of my own."

"I know." Death told him, still petting his hair, "But that doesn't change the fact that you are incredibly young to me. You are my little one, my child. Even a thousand years from now I will still treat you as such. Besides, your body is fourteen years old. With everything that it entails."

Harry couldn't quite contain the groan that left him. Oh, joy. He had forgotten just how his hormones affected him in his teenage years. He valiantly ignored Death's chuckle.

"Not funny." he muttered. All he got in reply was another chuckle.

"Are you feeling better?" Death asked, after a few moments of silence.

"Yeah." Harry whispered, "Thank you for coming."

"It was my pleasure, little one. Though I would appreciate it if you called me the next time you feel like this." Harry nodded and was slightly shocked when he felt Death kissing his mop of black hair tenderly, "Good. Now go talk to your mortal. Call your parents, they'll talk some sense into him." Death got up and put Harry on the ground, shooing him away with a fond chuckle.

Harry grumbled a bit, then straightened his back and left the room.

That had been exactly what he needed. He wanted Sirius with him, he would make sure he got him, even if he had to use slightly underhanded methods to achieve it.

He stopped in his tracks when he reached the living room he had left Sirius in.

Tom was sitting in his previous seat, glaring murderously at Sirius, who was sitting stiffly in the same place that Harry had left him. He was unbelievably pale and Harry glimpsed Sirius' wand beside Tom. He almost sighed when he guessed what must have happened.

"Tom." he called softly, gaining their attention.

Sirius relaxed minutely and the concern in his eyes made Harry smile.

"Harry," he glanced at Tom when he heard his name, "Are you alright? Did he do anything to you?" it was rather well masked, but Harry heard the concern underneath his tone and had to stop himself from smiling at Tom.

"I'm fine." he said, taking a seat beside Tom, "His reaction was somewhat what I expected." he admitted.

"So, will we be taking care of his memories? Or assure his silence?"

"Not yet," he looked at Sirius and smiled, "I want to try something else first."

Tom wanted to ask what he planed on doing, however when he saw the ring on Harry's finger he snapped his mouth shut and prepared himself for what was coming. He really wasn't all that comfortable with it, but if it brought Black to their side then he wouldn't complain. Besides he knew that it would make Harry happy to have Black with them, and even though he would never admit it, he wanted Harry happy.

"Really Paddy, must you be so difficult?" came the slightly exasperated voice of James Potter.

Black's reaction was quite amusing. He jumped from his seat, gaped at the Potters for a second, then lost all strength in his legs and crashed to the floor. Though he refrained from chuckling when he saw the glare that Harry was aiming at him.

"Wha-... James? Lily?" Sirius' voice was a barely heard whisper, though the incredulity could be heard with crystal clear clarity.

"Hey Paddy." James replied in a soft voice, a fond smile on his lips.

"How?" Sirius asked getting back on his feet, taking a few steps towards his friends, though he stopped just out of reach. It was as if he was afraid of getting to close, afraid that if he touched them they would disappear.

"Our Harry is rather talented and powerful." James replied, with a mischievous grin, his eyes filled with pride.

Sirius turned sharply to look at Harry.

"You did this?"

"Yes. Though I can't hold them here for long. They are dead. Their place isn't here." he told Sirius, "Hey mum, dad." he greeted them with a smile.

"Hello sweetheart." his mother beamed at him, "Your dad and I have been keeping an eye on you, we are so proud of you, love. Never doubt that." then his mother turned a little and smiled at Tom, "Thank you, for looking after him. He does need it. I swear it's those Potter genes that make him get into all sorts of trouble." the last bit was grumbled and she threw a small fond smile at her husband. Tom just nodded his head, looking slightly uncomfortable and Harry chuckled, "And you," his mum continued turning to look at the corner of the room, where Harry noticed Barty was standing, looking completely flabbergast, "You've been good to my baby too. Thank you."

Barty seemed to pull himself together and bowed.

"You're very welcome, ma'am."

Lily gave a delighted laugh, her eyes shinning brightly.

"Oh, I like him. So polite."

James glared at Barty.

"Don't you go seducing a married woman." he grumbled.

Lily shoved him a little, glaring at her pouting husband.

"Don't be daft, James. I'm clearly not his type." she stated, smiling mischievously.

Barty's cheeks pinked a little and Harry couldn't help but laugh. His parents were the best.

"It's really you." Sirius whispered, making Harry and his parents look at him. He was looking at the two shades with awe.

"Yeah, it's us." James nodded, "Though we can't stay long, as Harry said we don't belong here. We just came because you are being difficult."

"Yes, Sirius." Lily glared at him, "If you hurt my baby more than you already have I'll come back to haunt you, do you hear me, Sirius Black?"

Sirius actually cowered a bit. He looked helplessly at James.

"Sorry, Paddy," though he didn't sound all that sorry, "You were on the brink of breaking our baby's heart. We don't hold a grudge against Tom for killing us, you shouldn't either, especially because Harry joined him. We know why, we approve of his choices. Harry is Dark, Sirius, but he does have a good heart. He will protect those he loves. He represents the Potter values quite well. Lily and I couldn't be prouder of him."

"The first war ended, Sirius." Lily told him gently, "Let those grudges die with it as well."

"Stand with our son, because we cannot." James smiled sadly.

"I will." Sirius whispered, "I promise."

"Good." James replied solemnly, "He will need you. Don't let him drown in who he will become. Make him enjoy life as a child should. Challenge him to a prank war, teach him the ways of the Marauders. Hell, recruit Moony to help you, that old wolf needs a bit of cheering up as well."

Sirius laughed, his bark like laughter, and shook his head.

"Moony became a professor, James. He's all proper now." he teased.

"Yes, I saw that. Moony and I will be having a serious conversation." James said shacking his head, "Defecting to the side of the proper and all that."

Lily looked exasperated and smiled fondly at them both.

"You both never grew up." she threw her arms up and winked at Harry.

"Grow up?" both males asked, looking scandalized, "Never." then they dissolved into laughter.

"We have to go now, Paddy." James said after they got their laughter under control, "Take care of our Prongslet and of yourself."

"I will." Sirius promised, his eyes filling with tears.

Both Potters smiled at him, then turned towards Harry.

"Bye, love." Lily whispered.

"Have some fun as well, baby. We love you." James smiled, then they were gone.

For a while no one said anything. None of them moved. Then Sirius stumbled to the sofa. He looked at Harry, his complexion paler than usual.

"You are a necromancer."

Well... Harry hadn't expected that. Was he a necromancer though? In a way he was, wasn't he? Though not really. Could he control the dead? He had never tried. Maybe he should ask his father.

"In a way." he replied. He was so not ready to tell Sirius that he had been adopted by Death.

"Thank you." Sirius whispered, "For letting me see them again, for letting me talk to them."

"You're welcome. But, Sirius, I can't call them all the time. Their place isn't here. They belong with Death now."

"I... I know. I just needed this."

Harry nodded. He could understand that. He would have given anything to see his loved ones one last time. To say goodbye to his children. But he knew it wasn't possible. They were in a different time-line. They would never exist in this one. As long as he lived in this one it would be impossible for him to see them. Besides, he wasn't sure he would have the courage to face them

"I won't stand in your way." Sirius whispered, "I know that you aren't telling me everything. And I don't understand why you joined him, or how you brought him back. But I won't stand in your way."

Harry sighed in relief, slumping slightly in his seat.

"Thank you Sirius."

* * *

"You're a necromancer." Barty whispered, a little over an hour later, when they were both back at Hogwarts.

Sirius had agreed to stay at Riddle Manor until the following day. They had agreed to meet there the following night so that Sirius could take them to Grimmauld Place. He had looked at Harry suspiciously when he found out that Harry knew about the place, but to Harry's relief he hadn't asked questions.

Tom had grumbled a bit about the new house guest, but he promised to stay out of Sirius' way, as long as he didn't cause trouble. Harry was hoping that both men survived the day.

"Does it bother you?" Harry asked. He knew that even most Dark wizards didn't stray to those magics. Death was something to be feared and respected.

"No, not really." Barty said, after a moment, "It just makes me curious about you. You are not what I expected. I fear you, but I find you fascinating as well. It's almost like what I feel with my Lord, but different."

"I'm just Harry." he had never felt less like  _just Harry_.

"No." Barty replied, he looked sad, almost heartbroken, "You want to be just Harry."

"I think you really are my favorite." Harry said, a small smile on his lips. He chuckled when Barty blushed slightly.

"You should go." Barty stated, looking away, "The Hufflepuffs will be looking for you. Those two seem to like you even more than they like Diggory."

"You're right." Harry sighed getting up from his seat, "I'll see you later."

Barty slumped on his seat as soon as the door closed behind Harry.

"Idiot." he mumbled into the empty room.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here's the new chapter. Hope you all like it. I'm sorry it took so long to update, but my laptop is still broken. I'll do my best to update as fast as I can but it is probable that the updates will be a little slower. Next chapter will have more Sirius, more Tom and more Barty. Te first task will also take place and Dumbledore will make his first appearance and Harry will show him that he isn't his little Savior anymore. Tom and Harry will discuss plans and set a few of them in motion. So, there will be a lot happening next chapter and it will be longer.
> 
> On another note, thanks for all the reviews and alerts. I'm really happy that you all like Death's son. I never expected that it would be so well received.


	7. Savior

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J. K. Rowling. No money is being made.
> 
> Warnings: This story will have Slash, violence and torture.
> 
> A.N.: Hey all. I have a request for all of you. I want to publish my original novel, though I'm really low on funds. So I decided to start a new project on Indiegogo. It's a crowdfunding website, one in which I have my projected posted. I'm hoping to get enough funds to have my book published. I would really appreciate it if you would check it out and spread the link in your social networks. You know how this things work, the more people know about it, the more of a chance I have of getting the funds. I only have 36 days left to achieve my goal, so please help me out.
> 
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* * *

**Chapter 7 – Savior**

"Hey." Harry greeted, falling into one of the sofas in the Hufflepuff common room. He didn't even try to understand why he was there. He hadn't made a conscious choice of going to the Hufflepuff common room, but before he knew it he was in front of the entrance and whispering the password.

It had become such a common occurrence that the Hufflepuffs didn't even glance at him. How strange was it that he felt more comfortable with the Hufflepuffs than with the Gryffindors? Though maybe it was because he hadn't truly known any of the Hufflepuffs. Sure, some of them had been friends, but never close. He had no idea what had happened to most of them in the war.

"Hey." Zachariah replied, "I thought you would be in Hogsmead. We were planning on finishing this and then go join you." he waved at his half finished transfiguration essay.

"I went early this morning. Though everyone was staring so I came back."

"Staring more than usual?" Wayne asked, looking up from his own essay.

"Yeah." grumbled Harry, "You would think that they would have gotten over it by now."

Zachariah snorted, shaking his head.

"You're the Boy-Who-Lived. They'll never get over it."

Harry sighed and slumped back on the sofa. They had no idea just how true that was.

"We don't have to go," Wayne offered, "We could stay here."

"You wouldn't mind?"

"Nah. We don't need anything from Hogsmead. Though you could help us with this essay as thanks for our selfless sacrifice." Zachariah teased slightly and Harry laughed. Really Zachariah was quite funny, it's a shame that they hadn't gotten along in the other time-line.

"Sure. What's it about?" he shuffled a little closer to them and focused on what they were telling him, relaxing in the comfortable atmosphere.

* * *

Harry had been expecting many things when he stepped into Riddle Manor the following morning. Chaos, destruction and death among those many things. Well, maybe not death, but at the very least blood.

He didn't know if the silence that greeted him was a positive thing. It was eerily silent. Far to silent for a manor that harbored the Dark Lord and Sirius Black.

Slowly he made his way to Tom's office. He would never admit it but he was a little apprehensive. He opened the door to the office and peeked inside. Then he opened the door and stared. He blinked. He blinked again.

"Oh, you're earlier than I expected." Tom remarked, when he saw him at the door. He sounded slightly relieved.

"Wha-" he stopped when he heard the pitiful whine. He aimed a slight glare at Tom.

"It's not my fault!" Tom defended himself, "He wouldn't shut up."

"So you turned him into a dog?" he couldn't quite hide the amusement in his voice if the betrayed look he got was any indication. How a dog could look betrayed he had no idea, but it did.

Sirius was in his animagus form, though Harry was sure that Tom had made it impossible for him to turn back, and had a muzzle on his snout. He looked really pitiful and Harry felt his lips twitch slightly. The betrayed look grew in intensity.

Shaking his head he did his best to look stern.

"Turn him back, we have a lot of things to do today."

"Fine." Tom looked rather put out and Harry couldn't quite contain his chuckle. At least both were in one piece, as far as he was concerned the night had gone of without a hitch.

As soon as Sirius was turned back the muzzle disappeared. Sirius hid behind Harry, though he would deny it to his dying day, and glared at Tom.

"He's evil." he stated, with a firm nod. As if he was imparting Harry with the absolute truth and nothing else.

"Why thank you." Tom said with a smug smirk and Harry sighed. They were behaving like children.

"I should have guessed that you would consider it a compliment." Sirius muttered.

"Will both of you stop it?" Harry asked, feeling a little exasperation slipping into his mood, "You are behaving like a couple of unruly first year Hufflepuffs." it was difficult to come up with something that would be equally insulting to both Sirius and Tom, but seeing their expressions, being compared to Hufflepuffs seemed to do the trick. "Now, take us to Grimmauld Sirius. Barty can only cover for me for a few hours, so I can't linger for long."

"You've been getting along well with Barty." Tom remarked, getting up from his seat.

"I like him." he replied with a soft smile, taking Tom's hand when he refused to be apparated by Sirius. Sirius grumbled and popped away, leaving both of them alone, "He's so _alive_. So passionate about life. I think he's my favorite." a second later they popped away too. Harry completely missing Tom narrowing his eyes slightly.

"Charming." Tom remarked as soon as they arrived and he looked around. "The last time I was here the street didn't look so worn out."

"When was that?" he asked curiously, keeping his eye on Sirius who was by the front door of Grimmauld, whispering spells under his breath.

"In the late sixties. Orion, your mutt's father, and I were friends."

"Never heard you refer to anyone as your friend." Harry remarked softly, studying Tom's expression.

"No. I guess you wouldn't have." it was a low whisper and Harry almost didn't catch it, "I think that by the time that people started to know me as Lord Voldemort I had lost any and all attachments. I saw it as a weakness and did everything I could to rid myself of those weaknesses. Of course, Orion and Abraxas were always rather stubborn, they never truly did cast me aside."

"Good friends than."

"Yes, I suppose they were." a little smile appeared on Tom's lips and Harry couldn't help but smile as well.

"It's done." Sirius said, getting their attention. "I had to work on the wards a little. The house has been on lock-down since my mother's death." he explained, opening the door for them.

Harry stepped through first, Tom following right behind him. He looked around and almost chuckled. It looked as bad as he remembered from his fifth year.

"Call your elf." he told Sirius as soon as the door was closed. He wanted to be gone as soon as possible.

"Kreacher." Sirius called, scowling at the elf when it appeared in front of them.

Before it could open his mouth to say anything at all Harry spoke.

"Kreacher, I'm here to help you with your Master Regulus' last order."

The elf looked at him, ignoring everyone else. Harry did his best to ignore Sirius' look as well. He knew that he would have to explain some things to Sirius, but at the moment wasn't the right time. Besides, he didn't really want to tell him the truth. It was one thing telling Tom, it was another thing to tell Sirius. He doubted that Sirius would ever understand his blood-lust, his need to see them suffer, to hear them scream and beg.

"Master Regulus' order?" the old elf croaked.

"Yes. I'll destroy the locket. If you give it to me I'll take care of it and you'll have fulfilled your Master's last order." of course he had no intention of destroying the locket. He felt bad lying to Kreacher, the old elf had become a favorite of his children. He had spoiled them rotten, more often than not muttering about them being just as wonderful as his beloved Master Regulus. Even so it couldn't be helped. Kreacher was loyal to a fault when it came to Regulus and he would not give them the locket if he thought they wouldn't destroy it and they couldn't simply take it because Harry was sure that the crafty little elf would be able to steal it back.

Kreacher popped away and not a moment later popped back in, Slytherin's locket clenched tightly in his hand.

Harry knelt and held out his hand, waiting for the elf to deposit the locket in his hand. He smiled reassuringly at him when the trembling hand dropped the locket in his.

"Thank you, Kreacher." Harry held the locket against his chest, "You don't have to worry about it anymore."

"Thank you, Master." Kreacher bowed low and popped away again.

Harry was still clutching the locket close to his heart when he got up and turned towards Sirius and Tom.

"Thanks, Sirius. You have no idea how important this is." he smiled at his godfather, "Could you please be nice to him? I know you don't like him but he helped us a lot."

Sirius grimaced a little but then nodded, his eyes straying towards the locket that Harry still hadn't let go.

"Do you want to come back to Riddle Manor with Tom and I?" Harry asked, ignoring Tom's wide eyes.

Sirius snorted and glared at Tom.

"No, thanks. I think I'll stay here for a while. I'll get in contact with Moony, after that we will have a talk. The three of us. Don't think I don't know that you are hiding things from me. I won't push." Sirius added quickly when Harry opened his mouth to argue, "But we do need to talk. Me... you... Moony. Your parents... Everything is such a mess, Harry." he sighed. "I'll stay here, I'll talk with Moony and then I'll contact you again and we'll set a time to meet alright?"

"Alright." Harry replied, knowing that he wouldn't be able to slip out of it. Truthfully he knew that they deserved some explanation but he wasn't ready to give more than what he already had.

He hugged Sirius goodbye and let Tom apparate him away.

Harry fell gracefully into his usual armchair as soon as they appeared in Tom's study.

"I was kinda surprised that Sirius was able to apparate out of here." he remarked, glancing at Tom when he took the seat in front of him.

"I adjusted the wards as soon as I felt you arrive. They are closed again. No one but us is able to apparate in and out, no matter to which point in the manor. However the Death Eaters can apparate to the throne room for meetings, it's keyed to their Dark Mark." Tom explained, relaxing back on his armchair. His eyes drifted to his horcrux and a smirk appeared on his lips, "You seem rather taken with the necklace."

A slight blush spread on Harry's cheeks and he leaned over to give Tom the horcrux.

"Sorry." he murmured, "Aside from the one in me, that is the one I spent the most time with. I hadn't realized I missed it." he confessed.

Tom hummed, picking the locket up and glancing at it. His long, thin finger tracing the emerald S. He stood fluidly from his seat and stopped behind Harry.

Harry didn't move. He had no idea what Tom was up to, but he saw no reason to move. He trusted Tom, he knew Tom wouldn't hurt him. Though he was startled when he felt a weight around his throat and Tom's fingers brush the back of his neck.

He glanced down and saw the locket. He looked up at Tom, who was once again in front of him, and raised an eyebrow.

"It looks good on you." was all Tom said before he sat back down.

Harry looked at him incredulously for a minute then a small chuckle left his lips.

"Soon I'll have more of your soul than you." he had meant it as a joke. He surely hadn't expected Tom's response.

"It couldn't be in better hands."

* * *

Harry ignored the concerned glances he received from his friends. It was time for the first task and everyone was on edge, especially his friends. Even Hermione, though he had spend less time with her since his name came out of the Goblet. Ron was still in one of his moods and Harry continued to insist on Hermione spending time with him.

They still talked, but since Ron left the room as soon as he saw Harry his time with Hermione was greatly reduced. On one hand he was rather grateful for it, it had helped him adjusting to seeing all of them alive again. It was easier for him now to see this Hermione as her own person instead of the Hermione he lost.

He smiled reassuringly at his friends, doing his best to convey that he was fine. He doubted it worked since they still looked incredibly pale.

Harry sighed and left the Great Hall, he needed a bit of space. The atmosphere was a little stifling. He just couldn't understand why they were so nervous, they didn't even know that they had to face a dragon, why the hell were they nervous?

He almost yelped when he felt someone pulling him into a classroom. He had to stop himself from cursing whoever it was.

"Potter." Moody's gruff voice whispered near his ear and he turned around with a smile on his lips.

"Professor." he couldn't quite stop the fond smile from appearing on his lips. He hated seeing Barty parading around like Moody. He was really fond of Barty, the man was sharp, funny, loyal, and a million other things. He didn't judge Harry and he felt incredibly comfortable with the older wizard, well technically Barty was younger. Though sometimes he didn't feel as old as he was. He suspected that it was Death's doing. Death's soul made his feel incredibly young and that affected how he behaved. Since his little break down at Riddle Manor where Death comforted him he felt more in tune with his feelings. He wasn't a shell anymore. He was healing. He still had a long way to go, he knew that, but he was getting there. He knew it was all thanks to Death.

He felt a few charms go up and he knew that Barty was ensuring their privacy.

"Harry," even with the added security Barty whispered the words, "Are you ready for this? Do you know what you'll do?"

"Don't worry, Barty." Harry whispered back, his smile stretching a little, "Everything is going to be fine."

"Fine?" Barty sounded a little hysterical, "It's a freaking dragon!" he exclaimed. Harry glared a little and Barty smiled at him. He would have liked the smile better if he actually looked like Barty, but even so he could practically see Barty's soft, bright eyes looking at him, "I know you are incredibly powerful. I know that. Even so, I can't help but worry about you."

Harry smiled at him and had to stop himself from caressing Barty's cheek. No matter how much he wanted to it just felt wrong to touch Barty when he was parading as Moody.

"Thank you," it felt really nice to have someone worry about him. He had missed it, "Though, in this case, there really is no need to worry. I am not defenseless. It will be a great show." he assured him.

Barty studied him for a few moments, then he nodded.

"Alright." he said, "Good luck."

Harry smiled, brought the charms down and left the room.

He hadn't lied to Barty, he truly thought it would be a great show, he just hoped his plan worked. If not then he would become quite crispy.

Still, he was determined to try. What better way to try his power than against a dragon?

He made his way to the tent near the pitch. He knew he was a little early, but he didn't really want to wait for the others. His friends were slowly driving him insane with their hovering and he was sure that he would start hexing them if he spend a moment longer with them.

He fell on a chair gracefully and waited for the other champions.

His thoughts drifted from one thing to another. Most of all to Tom and their future plans. He still couldn't quite believe just how well they worked together. Sometimes he couldn't help but wonder how things would have been if he had just joined him the first time. Part of him was sure that things wouldn't have worked out. He had been a child, with none of the power and knowledge he currently possessed. No matter how he may sometimes feel and behave, he was an adult. He was Tom's equal. Previously the only thing he could have been would have been another follower, or a somewhat useful ally. He doubted that Tom would have had even an ounce of the respect he now had for him. Besides, Tom had been losing his mind. That, more than anything else, made it a moot point. Even if they were the same man, Voldemort was nothing like Tom.

He was brought out of his thoughts when he heard people approaching the tent. Cedric was the first to enter, followed by Fleur and then Krum. Cedric glanced around and when his eyes landed on him he smiled and walked towards him.

"Hey Harry." he greeted, taking a seat beside him, "Ready for the task?"

"As I'll ever be." Harry replied, "What about you?"

Harry saw the brief flash of fear that appeared in Cedric's eyes be squashed by determination and almost chuckled. Cedric was ridiculously gryffindorish sometimes. It was the same reaction he had when Harry had told him about the dragons, though he had looked a little paler then. Not that Harry blamed him, he had been the same way the first time.

"I... yeah, yeah, I'm good." the smile on his face was nowhere near as bright as his usual smiles but at least he was trying.

"Everything is going to be fine." he felt the need to reassure the other champion. Cedric was the only death in the whole war that he saw as truly pointless. There had been no reason for him to die. True, during his year on the run there had been hundreds of people who died seemingly for no reason, but it had been different. They had been truly at war then, it was to be expected. But Cedric... Cedric's death had been a waste. One that he wanted to avoid at all cost, at least for now. When the war started up again... well, to each their own. It would be Cedric's choice then. It was, in his opinion, much better than dying just because he was there.

"You look pretty confident." Cedric remarked.

"Not really." Harry replied, "I just know that there will be handlers all around in case something goes wrong. I doubt that the Headmasters and Ministry officials would risk our lives for entertainment."

Cedric didn't need to know that he was lying through his teeth. He didn't trust the Ministry officials or the professors as far as he could throw them. True, they hadn't done anything to him yet, but he remembered their incompetence quite well.

"Yeah," Cedric mumbled, "I guess you're right. Though if I had know that they would make us face dragons, even with the handlers nearby, I don't think I would have put my name in the cup."

Harry snorted and he caught the twitch of Krum's lips.

"I don't think any of us would haff." Krum remarked taking a seat near them.

"Hey!" Harry mocked scowled, "Don't lump me with you guys. I was smart enough not to put my name in."

Krum's eyes flashed with amusement.

"Sorry. I will not make the same mistake again."

"See that you don't." Harry did his best to sound as snobbish as possible. He may have borrowed Malfoy's tone, and from Cedric's twitching lips he recognized said tone.

They managed to keep the serious air for a few moments before they broke out into laughter. Harry saw that both Cedric and Krum needed it. Even Krum who usually was a rather stern individual seemed to revel in the lightheartedness of the moment. Harry understood. They had to face a dragon, even with the handlers nearby it was a daunting task.

Their little moment was broken when Bagman walked into the tent. Harry almost sighed when he saw the familiar bag.

From that moment forward everything went exactly as he remembered, though he was nowhere near as panicked as he had been the previous time. He was still a little apprehensive about his plan. He knew that it may not work, but could he really waste the monumental oportunity that was presenting itself to him?

He could still use what he had used in the other time-line. The broom thing had worked rather well and people had been impressed.

No. He shook his head firmly. It may have worked but he hadn't shown any magical talent when he did that stunt with his broom. Sure it showed his flying skill but that was it. He needed to awe people with his magical power. They needed to see what he could do. They needed to know that they would lose if they went against him. It was the best way to dissuade people from opposing him and Tom. No matter what he wanted to avoid killing as many magical people as possible. Even if that meant gaining Dumbledore's attention far sooner than he wanted.

It was his turn. He stepped into the enclosure and for a fraction of a second let the noise around him engulf him. This time there were far more people cheering for him than the last time. This time people were actually on his side.

Then his eyes caught the dragon and he stopped breathing for a second. It was far larger than he remembered and if he wasn't sure that he couldn't die then he may have rethought his plan. But he couldn't die, so he didn't.

He took one step forward and that was all it took. The dragon breathed in and the next moment a wall of fire was launched at him.

It was breathtaking.

It was deadly.

It was _fire_.

It was an element.

And he was an elemental and every element obeyed him.

He pointed his wand at the fire, more for show than anything else, and willed the fire to obey him. Inches from his body the fire stopped. He could feel the scorching heat coming from it, but it didn't burn him. It didn't hurt him. It couldn't.

He willed it to take shape, to gain life. It obeyed. Growing stronger with the fire the dragon was still breathing at him.

In a matter of moments a replica of the dragon that he was facing was standing beside him. It opened it's fiery maws and let out a deafening roar, silencing the crowd around them. The Horntail looked at its counterpart, deeming it the more dangerous threat.

Harry willed his fire to move, to keep the Horntail distracted.

It obeyed, spreading it's flaming wings and took to the air. Harry had never seen anything quite as mesmerizing and he knew that every person present felt the same.

Every single person in the crowd had their eyes locked on his fire, mesmerized by it. The Horntail was just as fixed on it as the crowd, though Harry was sure that it had nothing to do with fascination.

This was his chance though. He had to get the egg. He silenced his footsteps and masked his scent. Then he ran towards the nest, keeping an eye on the dragon, just in case it decided that he was a bigger threat than his fire dragon. Luckily for him the Horntail hadn't notice him at all, though to be fair no one was really looking at him. He reached the nest in less than a minute, grab the egg and raced back out of the enclosure. No one, not even Bagman, noticed that he had completed the task. He couldn't quite stop the chuckle that left him. Well, he had wanted to awe them.

He willed his dragon to land and as soon as it did he extinguished the flames, willing them to die out. It did, though Harry felt a slight struggle against his control. He would have to look into that. He couldn't afford to lose control of an element in a more critical situation.

There was silence for a heartbeat. Then the crowd went wild.

"Oh, dear Merlin! Did you see that?!" Bagman was shouting over the cheering crowd, "Did you see that!?" he sounded part incredulous and part awed and Harry chuckled again. Well, it had worked far better than he had expected.

"That was magnificent." a voice breathed near his ear and he almost felt his heart jump out of his chest. He spun around and his eyes locked with deep blue ones that flashed red for a second.

"Tom?" he asked incredulously, "What are you doing here?"

"I was curious about what you would do." Tom replied, leaning a little away from him.

Harry looked at his glamor and relaxed a bit. He looked nothing like Tom Riddle. He was blond, with deep blue eyes, and a slighty lanky body. He was Tom's complete opposite. Reassured that no one would recognize him Harry smiled at him.

"I'm glad you enjoyed the show." he smirked.

A dark, seductive chuckle left Tom's lips.

"You have no idea how much I enjoyed it." Harry completely ignored how that voice affected him. "Will you be coming to the Manor tonight? We have plans to discuss."

"Not tonight." Harry told him shaking his head, "I doubt that I'll be able to get away all that easily. Tomorrow."

"Alright." Tom agreed easily enough. He looked up when he heard footsteps coming their way and with a small sigh melted back into the shadows leaving Harry alone with a golden egg.

Moments later he was almost tackled by a witch with bushy brown hair.

"Harry!" she was trembling and Harry wrapped his arms around her. He felt a little bad for putting her through so much.

"Hey Hermione." he whispered, "Did you like my dragon?" he couldn't help but ask and it got him a somewhat hysterical laugh form her.

"Oh, Harry," she let him go, though only far enough away so that she could look into his eyes, "It was beautiful. How did you do that? I've never seen anything like it."

"I'll tell you later," he deflected, "I can see Madam Pomfrey coming our way and I just know that she'll try and force me into bed rest." he muttered, making Hermione laugh.

His prediction came through and Harry shared a pained look with Hermione. Thankfully when the medi-witch made sure that there was nothing wrong with him she let him go see his score.

Ten from Dumbledore. Ten from Maxime. Ten from Crouch. Ten from Bagman. Nine from Karkaroff.

He almost snorted when he saw the sneer from Karkaroff. It was clear as day that if it didn't show clear favoritism than the man would have given him a much lower score. Not that it surprised him, Karkaroff was just that kind of man.

"You're in first place!" Hermione shouted excitedly. He grinned and pulled her into another hug, enjoying this little moments where he could be carefree.

* * *

He hadn't even closed the door and he already had a wand digging into his neck.

"Would you really curse me, Barty?"

"Harry." came the breathy reply and he smiled, turning towards the man.

"Hey," he looked at the man and saw that he only had sweatpants on, "Did I wake you?"

"No." Barty told him, stepping away from him. Harry missed the warmth of his body but didn't pull him back, "I was reading. What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with the Gryffindors celebrating?"

Harry sighed and fell gracefully into one of the armchairs by the fire.

"I got tired of hearing just how awesome I am." he muttered.

Barty snorted and took the other armchair.

"I hate to say it, but I kinda understand where they are coming from."

Harry glared at him and Barty raised his hands in surrender.

"You only have yourself to blame, Harry." Barty told him unapologetic.

"I know." he grumbled, "I wanted to awe them, but I wasn't expecting this."

"If you wanted awe, you got it." Barty said and Harry looked at him. His eyes were shining and Harry could see the wonder in them. But it was overshadowed by respect and something else that he couldn't quite place.

"Yeah. Tom liked it too." he remarked, a small smile on his face.

"My Lord was here?" Barty sat up straighter.

"Yes, he said he wanted to see what I would do. He said it was magnificent."

"I see." Barty murmured, leaning back on his seat, his eyes losing some of their shine.

"Is something wrong?"

"No. No, it's nothing." Barty reassured him, a smile on his lips.

Harry didn't truly believe it, but he didn't push. Sometimes Barty behaved in ways that he truly didn't understand. If he wasn't sure that he was wrong he would think that Barty was jealous of his relationship with Tom. But he knew that wasn't it. Barty had said that he had long ago accepted the fact that Tom couldn't see him as a son, as more than a valuable Death Eater.

"Can I stay here tonight?" he asked instead, the real reason why he had sneaked down to his room.

"What?" Barty was looking at him incredulously and he blushed a little, mentally cursing his pale complexion.

"I want to sleep here." he said. He truly wanted it. He missed sleeping beside a warm body. It was such a comfort during the war. It made them remember that they weren't alone. He missed it. He hadn't had that comfort for over a year. And Barty... Barty was becoming someone he felt close to. Barty was someone he could trust. Barty was warm, alive, and he wanted to feel that.

"Alright." came Barty's soft reply and he sighed in relief.

They both got up from their seats and he quickly transfigured his clothes into sweatpants. He followed Barty towards the bed and waited for him to get in. He took the other side and crawled under the covers, scooting closer to the warm body beside him.

Almost hesitantly an arm warped around his waist and pulled him firmly against Barty's body. He sighed in contentment and burrowed deeper into the delicious warmth.

"Goo'night, Barty." he mumbled, falling asleep without even realizing it.

Barty tightened is arm around the slight body. His eyes landed on the necklace around Harry's throat. He recognized it. Almost subconsciously he pulled Harry closer to himself. He closed his eyes and buried his nose in the raven locks.

He knew he was courting death, but at the moment he truly didn't care.

* * *

Harry woke up slowly. He felt warm and safe. He couldn't quite remember the last time he had felt it. Wanting to hang on to the last vestiges of sleep he burrowed deeper into the warm beside him. He grumbled a little when he felt his comfortable pillow shaking.

"Good morning." Barty's husky voice whispered near his ear. He stilled for a fraction of a second the previous night coming to him. When he felt the arms warped around him he relaxed and pulled his head away from Barty's chest, his comfortable pillow. He smiled sleepily at the man beside him.

"Good morning." he whispered back.

"Did you sleep well?"

"Better than I have in a long time." he answered truthfully.

"Good." Barty muttered, pulling him closer to his body. Harry smiled and went willingly.

They stayed like that for a few more minutes, both enjoying their time together and wanting it to last. Harry because he didn't really want to face the people outside of his little bubble and Barty because he just wanted to keep Harry close.

"We have to get up." Harry grumbled, not moving from his place.

"I know." Barty replied, tightening his arms around Harry.

Harry grumbled a bit more about anything he could think of, making Barty laugh, until he finally pulled himself away. He glared a little at the sun that was peeking through the curtains, blaming it for making him leave his new found haven.

He felt the mattress shift and glanced up to see Barty leaving the bed as well.

"You should go before they start searching for you." Barty advised him.

"I know." he stretched a little and transfigured his sweatpants back to his clothes from the previous night, "I need you to cover for me tonight. I have to see Tom and I don't know how long I'll be."

Barty turned around to look at him. His eyes were unreadable and Harry frowned slightly.

"Of course, if anyone asks I'll cover for you."

Harry smiled at him, letting the matter go just as he had the previous night. He knew that Barty would tell him if he pushed but he didn't want to push. He wanted Barty to come to him on his own. He wanted Barty to trust him and for that to happen he couldn't push.

"Thanks." he walked towards the door, then stopped and turned around, "If I want to sleep here again... would you mind?"

Barty's eyes had their shine back and a fond smile appeared on his lips.

"Of course not. You can come to me every time you wish it."

Harry smiled brightly at him and left Barty's room. He couldn't quite keep the smile from his lips all the way back to Gryffindor tower.

He sneaked back to his dorm, doing his best to not wake the others. He knew he would be teased endlessly if they knew he had spend the whole night out. If they didn't see him then he could always say that he had gone to bed after they had already fallen asleep and that he had woken before them. When he reached the bathroom he congratulated himself on his sneaking abilities and took a quick shower to get ready for his day.

He was rather thankful that they didn't have any classes that day. He was quite tired. Controlling the elements was difficult. He hadn't truly tested it before the task. Sure he had played around with wind, water, earth, fire, and shadow, but he hadn't truly done anything with it, aside from giving Tom a body back. Though he had assumed that the only reason he had been that tired was because he had used the element Life, one of the hardest to use and control according to his father. But he hadn't really used any of the other elements. He had aimed a few jets of water at Barty. He had also build miniature forts and castles with earth. And he had spend a great deal of time lighting the fire in the fireplace and controlling it's intensity, but it had been nothing compared to the dragon.

Truthfully it had been staggering having all that fire under his control. He could understand why true elementals had been feared.

Part of him wondered if people would fear him for it as well. Though he admitted that if they didn't fear him for his power they would fear him for siding with Tom. Which, in his humble opinion, was a far more valid reason to fear him. Especially because Tom brought out his sadistic tendencies quite easily.

He was somewhat resigned to know that people would fear him, which was the reason why he had opted to show his power. One way or another people would fear him. What did it matter if he gave them reasons for it or not?

The only thing that would have made him change his mind was Dumbledore. He hadn't wanted to catch the old man's attention quite so soon, but the pros outweighed the cons. If nothing else the students were awed by his display. The older ones had been a little wary of him, he could see it in their eyes, but they had accepted him well enough. Even if they had seen the task with different eyes than the younger ones. He had made them think. He had made them realize that having him as an opponent would not be good for them. He could only hopped that they remembered it and that it would help sway them to their side. Or at the very least make it so that they wouldn't side against him. He wouldn't begrudge them if they opted for neutrality.

He dressed quickly and went to have breakfast. He expertly ignored the looks he got and when Zachariah and Wayne called him over to the Hufflepuff table he went. He was a little surprised that they had called him. He had expected them to feel a little put out that he had done so much better than Cedric.

"Hello." he greeted them, seating himself between them, "How was the party last night?"

"Not as great as yours from what I heard." Zachariah grumbled, "Really, a dragon made out of fire. The dragon's own fire no less. Could you have picked anything more flashy?"

Harry chuckled and smirked.

"They wanted a show."

"You certainly gave them one." Wayne remarked, "Have you seen how the Slytherins are looking at you? Especially Malfoy and his click?"

"No, not really. Why?"

"Well... I've never seen them looking quite so gray."

Harry glanced over at the Slytherin table and snorted when he saw them. They truly did look gray, though what caught his attention were some of the looks the older students had. There was a calculating gleam in their eyes when looking at him. Almost as if they were reevaluating everything they knew about him. He threw them a smug smirk and turned back to his breakfast.

"I think Malfoy is realizing that you could crush him and that you have been playing with him." Zachariah commented, "He is a Slytherin, his self-preservation must be kicking in." he added with a snort, making Wayne and Harry laugh.

"Do you think he'll leave me alone?"

"I said that his self-preservation was kicking in, not that he was smart." Zachariah told him deadpan and he laugh again. His eyes shone with mirth and the smirk on his lips was almost savage.

"Do you think that he'll need a demonstration?"

"Dear Merlin, I hope so." Wayne said, his eyes alight with glee.

Harry chuckled and shook his head. He wondered how he had never noticed just how vicious the Hufflepuffs could be.

"Excuse me," a voice from behind him said. He turned around and came face to face with a little first year Hufflepuff, "The Headmaster said to give this to you." the little girl told him, handing him a rolled up parchment.

"Thanks." Harry smiled at her, chuckling when the little girl blush and scurried away.

He unrolled the parchment and almost sighed when he read it.

It truly didn't surprise him to receive the summons. He had just hopped that he would have been able to avoid it for a few more hours. He wasn't all that sure how he would deal with Dumbledore. He knew he had to do something, to say something but he didn't really know what.

Depending on how he approached it his life at Hogwarts would change.

Though he doubted that Dumbledore would ever think that he had joined Tom, even if he acted against the old man. He was sure that Dumbledore believed that there was too much bad blood between them for them to work together. Aside form that Dumbledore was sure that Tom would kill him on sight.

Still, he knew if he went against Dumbledore that he could make his life much more complicated.

Did he want to risk it? Was it worth it?

And now that he was thinking about it he had to wonder if Snape had told Dumbledore that his Mark had darkened completely. He had seen how fidgety Karkaroff had become. No doubt a result of his Mark darkening and burning. Snape's Mark had done the same. Had he revealed the truth to Dumbledore? Did they know that Tom was back or did they think that he was only getting stronger?

All of those things made it difficult to know just how to act.

What to do... what to do...

"What is it?" Wayne asked, looking a little concerned.

"Oh, just a summons to his office." he said nonchalantly, concealing his turbulent thoughts, "I'll better be on my way. The sooner I get this over with the better."

They nodded, told him to join them in their common room later if he wanted to and went back to their breakfast.

Harry waved good-bye and walked out of the Great Hall. He dragged his feet a little, trying to delay the meeting for as long as possible. He wasn't afraid of the old man, _he wasn't_. He had no reason to be. But at the same time he didn't want to face him. He wasn't sure he would be able to completely hide the bitterness and resentment he felt. He didn't want to complicate his and Tom's life, but he knew he wouldn't be able to act as Dumbledore's little Savior.

Sooner than he wished he arrived in front of the entrance to Dumbledore's office. He took a deep breath and said the password.

"Twix." he almost snorted at the password.

He knocked on Dumbledore's door and a moment later he heard ' _Enter._ '.

The office was just like he remembered it.

"Harry, my boy, thank you for coming. I hope I didn't pull you away from your breakfast?"

"No, Headmaster. I had already finished." he replied, taking a seat in front of Dumbledore's desk when the old man gestured to one of the armchairs.

He sat patiently and waited for the Headmaster to begin. If anything he had learned to be patient.

"Now, my boy, do you know why I called you?" the twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes was slightly dimmed and Harry almost smiled when he saw that.

"No, not really, sir." he knew perfectly well why he was there. But there was no need to make life easier for the old man, was there? He certainly hadn't made life easier for Harry.

"Well, my boy, as you can imagine, yesterday's task left quite a few people speechless."

"No wonder. What were they thinking setting us up against dragons?" he did his best to look as indignant as possible.

"Yes, well... That wasn't really the reason why people were speechless. The spell you used, where did you learn it?" Dumbledore had leaned forward on his seat, his eyes piercing.

"Why does it matter? Shouldn't you be happy that I wasn't turned to ash?" he couldn't quite mask the biting in his tone.

"My boy, of course I'm happy that you are unharmed." Dumbledore placated, a grandfatherly smile on his bearded face, "However I am concerned about you. The only spells that can control the elements are some of the darkest known to man, I do not wish to see you walk down that road."

"So what if it was? It kept me alive."

"Surely you don't mean that, Harry." the twinkle had vanished completely from his eyes and Harry wanted to pat himself on the back for managing to do it, "Think about what your parents would have said."

"I think, since they died so that I could live, they would be rather happy that I survived. No matter how." he knew for a fact, thanks to his father, that his parents stood with him. Though he had to give it to Dumbledore, in his previous life that line would have worked like a charm.

"There is another who believes in survival no matter the cost, Harry." Dumbledore told him, his voice grave and Harry could feel the old man's magic fluctuating slightly.

"Oh?" he raised an eyebrow. He knew that he was referring to Tom, and because he knew he couldn't help but answer, "Good for him, than. It's good to see that there are smart people out there."

"I'm speaking about Lord Voldemort, Harry." Dumbledore said after a few seconds of stunned silence. As if knowing who it was would make all the difference. As if it would make Harry realize that he was somehow wrong in his stance.

"You know," Harry said slowly, as if he were weighing every word that was leaving his lips, "He always said we were rather similar. Perhaps he was right?" Harry relished in the shock that briefly flashed on Dumbledore's features, "Maybe our will to live far outstrips anything else. Not that it really surprises me, considering where we grew up." the last bit was more of a mutter, but he delighted in the almost unnoticeable flinch it produced. "I'm not some _Savior_ ," the word was spat out, "This isn't a fairy tail, where Voldemort is bad and I'm good and I should strive to be nothing like him. I'm a just a teenager who was dragged into this mess, and I only want to survive. By any means necessary."

"Where did you learn that spell, Harry?" Dumbledore demanded, any trace of grandfatherly personality gone.

Harry sneered, he couldn't help himself.

"It wasn't a spell." he stated gleefully, "It was only magic. Magic and my will." when Dumbledore paled he let a satisfied smirk pull at his lips, "Is that all, Headmaster?" getting a nod from Dumbledore he got up form his seat and left the office.

As soon as he was down the stairs he chuckled. Hopefully that would keep Dumbledore busy for a while. It wasn't very likely that Dumbledore would find out that he was an elemental just from that, but he would spend hours, days, maybe even weeks, researching. As obsessed as he was with the damned prophecy he may even think that it was the mysterious power that Tom supposedly didn't know.

He chuckled again, making his way to Barty's room, at least it would keep the old man out of his hair.

* * *

"What are you doing?" Tom asked, looking down at Harry who was sprawled on a rug in front of the fireplace in his study.

"Lazing about." came the muttered reply and Tom had to stop a smile from forming on his lips.

"I see." he sounded far more amused than he wanted. "I thought that we would be working on our plans?"

"We are." Harry agreed, "I was just so damned comfortable at Hogwarts and I had to drag myself here. I wanted to indulge a little."

"What were you doing at Hogwarts?" he asked curiously, taking a seat near the fireplace.

"The exact same thing. Though I had company on the rug, since Barty was there." Harry answered, stretching himself lazily.

"Oh?" that came out far more clipped than he had intended, "You are spending a lot of time with him, aren't you?" there, that was better, only a little bit of interest shining through.

"Yeah." Harry replied, he sounded on the verge of sleep, "He's warm and cuddly."

"My Death Eaters aren't _cuddly_." he felt the need to say. Not quite sure if he was defending himself or his Death Eaters. Maybe a little bit of both? He was sure that none of them would be able to live knowing that they were considered anything as mushy as _cuddly_.

"Alright, your Death Eaters aren't cuddly." Harry agreed, nodding his head. "My Barty is though."

His eyes narrowed and his wand appeared in his hand almost without his notice. He absolutely despised that little pronoun before Barty's name. His Death Eater had better not be Harry's anything.

And he would rather not know just how Harry came by the knowledge that Barty was the cuddling type.

"Hmm," he did his best to sound nonchalant, "Should we start on our plans than?"

Harry gave a long suffering sigh, stretched one more time and got up on his feet.

"Yeah, I think it's best. Your Death Eaters know you are back. It's about time that they are put to use."

Tom nodded and accioed a few parchments from his desk. It was time to set things in motion, he would deal with everything else later.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N.: Hope you all enjoyed the chapter :) 
> 
> Next chapter will be fun. We'll have Lucius making an appearance. And there will be more Barty of course. I just can't help myself. And to all those who asked... it is a Tom/Harry pairing, but yeah there will be Barty/Harry as well. Barty does have a crush and poor Harry doesn't realize it. He's kinda oblivious to those things. And when it comes to his attraction to Tom... well, he is pretty good at pretending that he doesn't know what's going on.
> 
> Death will be making an appearance soon as well... I miss him lol


	8. Wake-up call

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J. K. Rowling. No money is being made.
> 
> Warnings: This story will have Slash, violence and torture.

* * *

**Chapter 8 – Wake-up call**

"Are you sure you want to do this tonight?" Tom asked him for what felt like the hundredth time. Harry had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. Who would have thought that Tom had mother-hen tendencies?

"Yes, Tom, I'm sure." he couldn't quite keep the exasperation from his tone.

"Truly? There would be no harm done in postponing. You had a rather tiring day." he insisted and Harry did roll his eyes.

"Tom, it was just the second task, nothing more."

"Just!? Just the second task? Harry, are you forgetting that I was there? What you did..." Tom shook his head, wonder still present in his eyes. Truthfully Harry didn't really blame him, he had been somewhat surprised that his plan had worked as well as it had, considering that he hadn't even come up with it till he was standing beside the other champions ready to rescue their hostages.

* * *

_Harry was a little tired, alright, more than a little, he was ready to drop over and sleep for a week. Well, that might be an exaggeration but he was truly tired. Things were a little complicated at the moment and all because of the second task._

_Not that he was worried about the task itself, he was more worried about who they would take as a hostage. Ron was out, at least he thought so since they hadn't spoken since his name came out of the Goblet. His date for the Yule Ball was a possibility; he had taken Luna. The only person he knew that wouldn't assume that he had taken her because he was madly in love with her. So as soon as McGonagall had told them about the Ball he had tracked Luna down and asked her to go with him. She had smiled dreamily at him and agreed; then she floated away as if nothing had happened, though not before congratulating him for getting rid of the nargals._

_It still brought a smile to his lips when he saw people's faces when they saw Luna at the Ball with him. He had bought her a beautiful gown and had arranged with an older Ravenclaw, one that didn't bully the little blond, to help Luna with her hair. When all was said and done little Luna Lovegood had looked like an ethereal elf. The student body had gaped and more than one boy had shot him envious looks._

_Luna had been quite happy for the whole night. She was still herself but there had been a light in her eyes that had been absent when he had met her in his fifth year. It had felt good to bring her joy, and it hadn't been all that difficult, just a little care and attention. He would have done so much more to see that light in her eyes. So, yes, Luna was a possibility. But so were others, like Hermione, Wayne, Zack, even Ginny. He had no idea how the hostages were chosen, so he had no way to know._

_Which lead to him spending the last day marking everyone with a tracking charm. Not everyone, everyone, just those that interacted more with him. He knew that he was going overboard, but he truly didn't want to risk it. Besides he couldn't quite remember where the merpeople's village was in the lake and as far as he was concerned the sooner he could get there the better. Though the downside about the charm was that it had a forty-eight hour lifespan, since he had opted to cast a weaker one that wouldn't be felt by Dumbledore or people more sensitive to magic, so he had to do it the day before the task or it wouldn't be of any help. Which lead to his tiredness, it was past three am and he wanted nothing more than to sleep. As his head hit the pillow he hadn't even remembered that he hadn't thought about how to get his hostage since this time Dobby hadn't popped up with gillyweed to save the day._

_The following morning he dragged himself to the shore of the Black Lake and for a moment thought he was back at the Quidditch World Cup when he reached the platform._

_He didn't remember there being so many people present in the second task. Seeing his look Cedric shot him a wiry grin._

" _It's because of you." Cedric told him. Harry just stared at him confused and Cedric shook his head, "You created a dragon out of fire in the first task. You awed the masses. So now everyone wants to see what you do next. To be honest even we are quite anxious to see what you come up with. I am not ashamed to say that we were quite outclassed by you in the first task." Harry saw Krum and Fleur nod, there was even a look of respect in their eyes._

_He glanced at the crowd again and almost sighed. They wanted a show. Well, now wasn't really a good time to tell them that he had no idea what to do, was it?_

_Before he could do anything else Bagman was telling them to get ready and explaining the task to the crowd. Harry glanced at the other champions and saw them looking at him from the corner of their eyes. Then they were off and he stayed right were he was._

_He could feel the eyes of everyone on him and he almost sighed; well at least he knew where is hostage was, now he just needed to think of a way to get there._

_Then his eyes opened wide and he laughed. The watching crowd fell silent when they heard his laughter and a smirk spread on his face. They wanted a show, didn't they? Something grand and awe inspiring. Well, he would give them something biblical._

_His wand fell into his hand and with a lazy grace, that he didn't even know he had, he pointed at the Black Lake._

_It may not be a sea but he was sure that it would be just as grand._

_He willed the water to part, to move. It resisted, it had nowhere to go. So he directed it upwards. He urged it to touch the sky. And it did. Two gigantic walls of water rose into the air, parting in the middle, creating a clear path towards the hostages. He could see Luna amongst them, the only one not under water. She was awake and when she looked up she waved dreamily at him._

_Again the crowd was silent. All eyes locked on the impossibility they were witnessing. He willed a small wave to separate itself from the mass of water around it, and to form a small sphere around Luna's legs. It did and with just a touch of gravity added to the mix the water became a comfortable pillow. Luna sat on it and he willed it towards him, slowly and carefully so that Luna wouldn't fall._

_He kept an eye on the walls of water, just to make sure they were holding up and he caught sight of Cedric and Fleur staring out at him from on of the walls. Their eyes wide and disbelieving. He winked at them cheekily and he saw Cedric shake his head._

_A moment later Luna reached him and got up from her watery pillow._

" _Hi, little Death." she whispered to him, a smile on her lips._

" _Hello, little Moon. Did you have a nice nap?" he smiled, ignoring the still silent crowd._

" _Yes, it was very refreshing, though a little wet."_

_He laughed and willed the water back. Like a waterfall the walls dropped back, leaving a rainbow in their wake. It was truly beautiful._

_He turned towards the judges and smiled at them._

" _I have my hostage." he told them, breaking the silence._

_A heartbeat later there was thunderous clapping all over the grounds._

* * *

Suffice to say the crowd had enjoyed the show.

They had almost swarmed him when the other champions had returned. Fortunately he had managed to escape, though it had been a near thing. However his victory was short lived. The Gryffindors were of the opinion that he was far to good to just have a small party in their common room, so the Weasley twins had commandeered the Great Hall and sent invitations to any and all students that wanted to join the party. He guessed that even the professors were impressed with his use of magic because none of them said a thing when they found out, though he had caught Snape glaring at him hatefully a time or two.

He was rather surprised to see that almost every student in the school had been present; even the Slytherins and the other champions.

Though out of them all it had been the Slytherins that had surprised him the most. They had congratulated him, and he had seen true respect shine in their eyes. Malfoy was still a little ponce, even if he had kept his distance, but those he had talked to had been quite pleasant. He supposed that it shouldn't have surprised him. If there was one thing that Slytherins respected it was power and it was being revealed that Harry had that in spades.

"You know what I am," he said when he saw the wonder in Tom's eyes, "Does it really surprise you that I did what I did?"

"Surprise? No, not really. However it doesn't change the fact that it was a stunning display and I would not think less of you if you were tired."

Harry smiled at him and got up from his armchair by the fire.

"It wasn't as tiring as the dragon. The fire... it was somewhat sentient after I gave it form. I must have infused a little of Life into the fire so it was harder to control. The water was quite easier in comparison. All I did was change it's path a bit. So, yes, I'm sure." he explained and Tom's eyes lit up with interest.

It always amused him to see that Tom was a scholar at heart. A scholar with slight sadistic tendencies but a scholar nonetheless.

"Alright." Tom nodded and got up from behind his desk. He wasn't able to hide the excited gleam in his eyes and Harry grinned at him. He felt just as exhilarated as Tom, this was the first step.

They left Tom's study, Harry was almost bouncing of the walls, and Tom smiled at him.

"Now," Tom said, stopping before the closed doors, "Can you sit still for a few minutes?"

Harry glared at him and marched into the room, leaving an exasperated Tom behind. He sat down and smirk at Tom when he walked in.

Tom sighed and shook his head. He was getting used to Harry's moods and knew there was no use in arguing with him. He conjured an identical seat and placed it next to Harry's. He glanced at the sniveling little rat who shuffled forward. Sneering at the pathetic excuse for a wizard he pressed his wand to the dark mark. His eyes flew to Harry when he heard the snicker coming from him when the rat whimpered. A smirk spread on his lips when he saw the sadistic glee in Harry's eyes. The teen hid it well, but there were this moments when the mask slipped and the slight insanity that plagued him showed through.

As soon as he lifted his wand from the mark the rat scampered backward, cradling the arm against his chest.

They waited in silence and moments later they started to appear. A smirk spread on his lips when he saw just how shocked most of them looked. The fear in some of them was almost palpable and he could feel Harry's excitement grow.

When ten minutes had come and gone and no more Death Eaters appeared he got up from his seat.

"My Death Eaters," his red eyes took them all in and a few flinched, "I see you still come when I call." he spoke in a deadly whisper and was quite pleased with their reactions. He didn't enjoy causing them fear, well... actually he did, however he knew that he couldn't keep their loyalty with only fear. Though this time it was deserved, these followers had forsaken him. They may have still believed in his ideals, but they had forsaken their Lord. It wasn't something that could go unpunished, "Strange how you all appear before me now, when for the last fourteen years none of you as much as looked for me. I have to wonder why that is."

"I can tell you why..." Harry remarked, capturing the attention of every Death Eater in the room. He could feel their confusion. He didn't blame them. He doubted that anyone would have imagined that particular teen sitting beside him as if he belonged there.

He really had to stop thinking about Harry as a teen. Logically he knew that Harry was almost as old as he, but he looked so young. Sometimes it was easy to forget.

"Can you?" he asked curiously, turning to smirk at him.

"Yes." Harry stated, an answering smirk on his lips. He got up from his seat and practically prowled around the Death Eaters. Sometimes he looked at one of them for longer, the shadows thickening and Tom contained a smirk when he saw just how uncomfortable most of them became. Finally he seemed to have picked his target.

Slowly Harry's hand raised from his side and carefully dropped the hood of the Death Eater, as soon as the hood was down the mask dissolved and Harry's hand gripped the long blond strands. He forced Lucius down to his level, his lips tracing the outer shell of Lucius' left ear.

"Dear Lucius was only thinking about his little boy. If he had gone to Azkaban who would have spoiled rotten the little menace? Yes, he couldn't have done that from Azkaban." Harry's sharp green eyes caught his and a wicked smirk spread on his lips, "Truthfully, the brat may have been better off if Lucius had gone to Azkaban. Maybe he wouldn't have turned out to be such a whiny bitch."

It happened in a heartbeat.

Lucius snarled and pulled his wand, however, before he could even open his mouth, he had a wand pressed against his neck.

Tom stayed where he was, taking everything in. All the other Death Eaters fell completely silent.

"Try it, Malfoy." Barty's voice was filled with deadly intent and he saw the promise of pain in his eyes.

"Barty." Harry called him, a soft smile on his lips.

Barty's wand arm dropped and he bowed his head.

"My Lord." Tom was sure that he wasn't the only one that caught the affection in Barty's tone. He narrowed his eyes, not really sure whom he was angrier at, Barty or Lucius.

"Your Lord?" Lucius sneered, looking between Harry and Barty, for the moment ignoring Tom. Tom arched a brow, Harry must have really hit a nerve for Lucius to lose his composure to such an extreme, "Did you turn traitor, Crouch? How dare you call the brat your Lord?"

"Me turn traitor?" Barty's voice was still a deadly whisper, "You dare call me a traitor? You who renegaded our Lord as soon as the aurors came calling? I was always faithful, _always_!" Harry was now standing beside Barty, his hand resting on Barty's forearm, "And yes, I proudly call Harry my Lord. He deserves it just as much as our Lord."

Even Tom was a little surprised at the fierceness of the statement. He saw Harry smile at Barty, full of affection and he couldn't stop himself.

Before anyone could blink his wand was out and the next moment a curse left his lips.

Lucius screamed; though his screams only satisfied him a little. A part of him wished it had been Barty writhing on the floor, screaming in pain.

"Now that I have your attention," he said drily, stopping the curse, "I believe we were addressing your failure in assisting me over the last decade." the Death Eaters tensed again and he smirked, "Yes, I can understand some not coming to my aid, those like the Lestranges that are trapped in Azkaban or like Barty who has been under the Imperius for the last decade; however all of you have no such excuse." he relished in their fear and his anger at Barty deflated slightly when he saw the true devotion to him in his eyes.

Followers such as Barty were truly hard to come by. Barty had joined him not out of greed or fear but because he truly believed in him. Barty knew the truth about him and didn't think less of him. He almost sighed, even if Barty was one of the best Death Eaters he had he wasn't sure he would be able to control himself when it came to Harry. He was never known for his self-control, and it hadn't gotten better over the years. He could only hope that Barty knew that there were certain lines that he shouldn't cross.

Lucius got back on his feet and Tom's eyes fixed on him.

"Tell me, Lucius, is Harry correct?" Harry had walked back to the throne and was leaning against it, his eyes locked on Lucius as well. Tom smirked when he saw the innocent, little smile on Harry's lips. Really, when looking at him no one would be able to guess that Harry was as dark as he was.

"My Lord, I would never-" Lucius started, his voice wavering just a tad.

"Do not lie to me!" Tom exclaimed, unleashing his magic. The assembled Death Eaters shuddered and Harry chuckled darkly; Tom's magic felt incredible, "You would! You did! I could have understood if you had done it to stay free so that you could search for me, but you didn't. You didn't even look. None of you did!" he snarled and they cowered in front of him, as they should, "But do not worry. I am merciful and as such will forgive you. Though, make no mistake, I will not forget."

"They can start making it up to you now." Harry whispered from his seat on the throne and a wicked smirk spread on Tom's lips.

"Yes, I suppose they can." he murmured, taking the seat beside Harry, "As some of you may be wondering, Harry is my ally. He is as much your Lord as I am, you will obey him as you obey me." the shock they were feeling was almost palpable and Tom could see several of them just itching to say something. He wondered if any of them would be bold enough to try. He glanced at Lucius and had to stop himself from chuckling, apparently he wouldn't be wondering for long.

"My Lord, please forgive me, but Potter?" Lucius couldn't quite mask the contempt in his tone and Tom arched an eyebrow, "Surely he's nothing more than a little brat, what could he possibly have to offer to our cause?"

Barty snorted, his eyes were full of scorn when they looked at the blond and Tom could see his wand hand twitching.

"Do you have something to add, Barty?" he asked nonchalantly, leaning back on his throne.

"No, my Lord." Barty replied with a deep bow, "I was just surprised at Malfoy's stupidity and self-importance."

"Is that so?" he drawled. He had to agree with Barty though. Lucius and, from what he had heard, his son were nothing like Abraxas. They were so caught up in their own self-importance that they sometimes ignored what was right in front of them. Apparently Harry's obvious power was one of those things.

"Yes, my Lord." Barty answered, "Any witch or wizard worth their salt would have realized that my Lord Harry is an incredibly powerful wizard. They wouldn't even have to think about it all that much, or even know him, it's plastered in every newspaper."

"Oh, please, you can't truly believe that nonsense about the tasks. It must be rigged so that the boy comes out as the next Merlin; Dumbledore's doing, no doubt." Lucius scoffed.

This time Tom didn't even try to stop his chuckle. Dark amusement flashed in his eyes and he shared a malicious smile with Harry.

"You should know, Lucius, the tasks were not rigged." Tom told the blond, "I was there for both of them." he informed his Death Eaters, "Harry's magic was quite exquisite. Every person present could almost taste his power. It was breathtaking." he couldn't help but add. It still amazed him just how enchanting both tasks had been. Elementals were truly terrifying beings.

"Y-you... you were there, my Lord?" Lucius stuttered, his mask slipping a little.

"I was." he confirmed, "I have been back for a while now." he continued when he saw the curiosity in their eyes, "Since the beginning of November in fact." he could see their confusion and his smirk got a little bit bigger, "Harry came to me after Samhain, he gave me my body back and in return only asked for me to hear him out. I did. We came to the conclusion that we have several things in common and agreed to a partnership." he explained. He knew he had no obligation to tell them anything, however he didn't want his Death Eaters to constantly fight Harry. He knew Harry could handle himself, but Harry's patience wasn't limitless and he didn't want to lose too many followers because of their stupidity. Besides, he was sure that Harry would earn their respect soon enough, "Does that answer your questions, Lucius?" there was a sharp edge in his tone, warning Lucius not to push his luck.

"Yes, my Lord." Lucius replied with a deep bow.

Satisfied Tom nodded and surveyed the other Death Eaters. They were all looking at Harry curiously, no doubt wondering how Harry had given him a body back, about what powers he had. It was clear that they were a little more apprehensive about Harry's presence than they had been previously. It was likely that they considered him more of a threat now. If he didn't know just who Harry was he might have worried about what the Death Eaters could do to him, though since he knew it only caused a sense of amusement to fill him. He would love to see how Harry dealt with the fools who tried something against him.

"Now, as Harry stated, you can start to make it up to me." he saw them shift nervously and he chuckled darkly, "It is time to break my faithful out of Azkaban!" he exclaimed and the Death Eaters paled.

Their reaction didn't really surprise him. Azkaban wasn't a place for the faint of heart, even he didn't like to go there. However there wasn't much of a choice. Harry and he had gone over numerous ways to get his followers out and the most practical was to raid Azkaban. Aside from it being the most practical it was also the one that had the greatest impact.

A wake-up call for the Wizarding World, Harry had said.

In any other situation he may have argued about making such a commotion. Laying low may have been a better idea, however he could understand where Harry was coming from. The sooner they had control over the Wizarding World the sooner they could deal with the muggles. If he gave them no time to mount their defenses, or for Dumbledore to assemble his Order than they would have a much easier time in taking over. They were counting on the Minister being his usual incompetent self and attribute the breakout to Black, like they had done in Harry's previous life, and if they took into consideration that this time there was no Harry Potter claiming the Dark Lord was back they believed that the sheep would swallow everything the Daily Prophet printed.

They were aware that things could go wrong; however, truth be told, neither of them was all that worried about it. If it went wrong, then it went wrong. They would simply have to tweak their plans a little. One way or another they would have the Wizarding world in the palm of their hands and they would exterminate those damn muggles before they became too big of a threat. They just couldn't afford not to.

"Tonight we will storm Azkaban and free my faithful servants!" he exclaimed, "We will continue where we left of and take the Wizarding World. We will bring our world back to it's former glory and exterminate those filthy muggles! We will bring forth a new age! An age of magic and freedom for all of us!" the Death Eaters cheered, losing their pale coloring. He could see the fire in their eyes and it pleased him greatly to see that they still had that spark, that fire in them. They hadn't become lackluster bureaucrats in his absence; they were still his Death Eaters, filled with passion and fire, but most of all longing for a world where magic reigned, "After we have our fellow comrades with us, we will take up arms once more! We will fight for a world where we do not have to hide in our homes to practice our gift! A world where we do not have to fear for our children' safety, a world where we do not have to live in fear of being discovered! I am back, ready to once again fight for our dream and after tonight the whole world will know it!" the Death Eaters cheered and clapped, their fear forgotten in the wake of their desire to once again fight for their cause. He sat back down and glanced at Harry. He saw a small smile playing on his lips. He looked extremely pleased and Tom couldn't help but ask, "What?"

"You truly are something else," Harry replied, there was a trace of wonder in his tone that he didn't even try to mask, "I always knew, of course, but it's quite different seeing it. I'm truly glad to have you on my side, you actually make me believe that we could do it."

Tom could detect nothing but honesty in his tone and felt like puffing his chest like some proud peacock. It was absurd how such honest praise from Harry made him feel like he could do anything, more than that, it made him believe that he was doing something right. It was ridiculous, of course, but he couldn't help but feel that way.

He may make Harry believe that they could do it, but Harry made him _want_ to do it.

He smiled at Harry, not really knowing how to convey his appreciation but knowing that Harry would understand either way, and looked back at his Death Eaters.

It was time.

* * *

Harry couldn't quite suppress the shiver that ran down his back when they landed on the shores of Azkaban.

"Are you alright?" Tom whispered, making sure that the Death Eaters couldn't hear him.

_$I'm fine,$_ Harry replied in parseltongue and Tom almost groaned. He never knew that parseltongue could sound so enticing, _$Azkaban was my home for a while.$_

_$Your home?$_ he couldn't quite hide his shock.

_$Yes,$_ Harry nodded, his eyes shadowed by untold horrors, _$Azkaban was one of the last magical structures that the muggles destroyed. They were terrified of it, they couldn't see the dementors, but every time a muggle even came close to the shores they would slip into a coma, or so the muggles believed. The dementors sided with us, you see.$_ there was a slightly vindictive smirk on Harry's lips.

Tom listened to every word with rapt attention. It was always fascinating to hear about Harry's life, even if most of it was truly gruesome. Even so he liked to hear about everything Harry told him, it made him even more determined to deal with the muggles.

_$We won't let that happen again.$_ Tom told him, _$You already dealt with the squib, you already changed the future. Now we just have to deal with the muggles.$_

_$What if they find us before we can deal with them?$_ that had been a real fear he had. What if the muggles found them sooner? Harry knew it wasn't likely, even in his previous life they had only found them so quickly because of White, though he didn't fool himself into thinking that they wouldn't have found them eventually.

_$They won't!$_ Tom stated fiercely, _$We'll have the Wizarding World in our hand_ _s_ _soon, and then we'll deal with the muggles. However, if you wish, we could start to look into_ _ways to handle the_ _m_ _.$_

Harry smiled at him and nodded his head. The sooner they started the better, even if he had bought them time by killing White.

Seeing that Harry was back to normal, Tom turned around towards his Death Eaters. He smirked when he saw their wide eyed looks. Harry and he hadn't been talking all that loudly, however parseltongue had a way of being heard even when it was nothing more than a whisper. It carried on the wind, reaching everyone who was near. He could guess that none of them actually knew that Harry was a parselmouth, even with the Chamber of Secrets fiasco. Maybe they hadn't believed the rumors that had been flying around that year, either way they seemed rather surprised.

"We will be separated into two teams." he told them, and the Death Eaters straightened up, "I'll break down the wards and my team and I will release the prisoners in the lower levels. Lord Phobos-"

"Phobos? Really?" Harry looked at him incredulously, though there was a slight smirk pulling at his lips.

"You can't be called Lord Harry, you just can't." Tom stated firmly, "I'll not have my co-ruler be called something as unoriginal as Dark Lord Harry." he ignored the somewhat gaping Death Eaters and the smirking Barty.

"Alright, I can see your point. Still, why Phobos?"

"Because, my dear Phobos, soon you'll be their biggest fear." Tom smirked at him, "When they realize that their Savior sided with me... Can you see it? Fear... that's what you'll be to them."

Harry shook his head and chuckled. He wasn't sure if Tom was talking about the muggles or about the wizards who'll stand against them, though in the long run it didn't really matter. He had already come to terms with it, and supposed that Tom was right. No matter what they _w_ _ill_ fear him. He nodded and Tom gave a feral grin.

"As I was saying, Lord Phobos' team will deal with the higher levels. All of you have portkeys, they'll activate after ten seconds when they come into contact with someone, so that is all the time you have from the moment you separate them from their chains." Tom informed them, "Lucius, Barty, Mulciber, Avery, and Nott you'll be with Lord Phobos. Everyone else with me."

_$Why did you give me three Inner Circle members?$_

_$Because I know they'll obey and keep the others in line.$_ Tom replied, _$Not that I don't trust your ability in dealing with them, however I want to have this done before reinforcements arrive. Barty will do anything you say and won't let any of the others disrespect you. Lucius will follow your lead because he knows what will happen if he doesn't. Nott will obey because he's testing you, he's measuring your worth. Izar has always been that way. Even with me. He observed first, measured my worth and when he reached a conclusion followed me wholeheartedly. It will be the same with you. Seeing three Inner Circle present will make Mulciber and Avery follow their lead.$_

_$Alright. I don't like it, but I understand.$_

Tom nodded and turned towards his Death Eaters once more.

"The dementors will side with us, however it would be best to cast Patronus charms; it will help with the prisoners if nothing else. Those of you who can't cast a Patronus stay close to those who can." he looked at all of them, nodded once and turned towards Azkaban; his group following after him.

Harry stayed behind with his group. The Death Eaters were looking at him, not even trying to mask their curiosity.

"Alright," he turned towards them, "Lord Voldemort," he almost snorted when he saw most of them flinch. He glanced at Nott when he noticed that he hadn't. He had expected it from Barty, so he had to wonder what the relationship between Nott and Voldemort was. It had to be more than Master/Servant for Nott to not react as the others did, "Will take a few minutes to bring down the wards, after they are down we will apparate to the upper levels. The sooner we are done with it the better. Aside from Barty, are any of you familiar with Azkaban?"

"I came to visit my son, my Lord." Nott replied.

"And I came to visit my sister-in-law at the request of my wife, however I was not near their cell." Lucius told him, his tone far more respectful than it had been previously, however there was still a slight trace of contempt in his eyes.

Harry had to wonder if the proud Malfoy Lord would ever call him his Lord. He somehow doubted that the man would ever deem him worthy of his respect, if for nothing else then because of his blood. Even in later years the Malfoy family had always been incredibly proud, not even the muggles had broken them. He remembered how he had found them; even then, when they had been naked, chained to a table and bleeding, they had still not been broken. They had still sneered, and behaved as if everyone else was beneath them. The only time Harry had ever seen them slightly broken was when they had found the bodies of Narcissa and Scorpius. No matter what people may have said about her, the woman had truly loved her family. Harry couldn't even imagine the tortures she had gone through to protect her grandson.

If he were honest, he hadn't taken their deaths well either. He had kept correspondence with Narcissa after the war with Voldemort, at first it had only been a letter to thank her for the risk she had taken, he had never expected for her to reply, but she did. After that they kept corresponding and he came to see her as a beloved aunt, he knew she had regarded him just as fondly. And Scorpius had been his youngest son's best friend and James' boyfriend. They had gotten together a few years into the war and Harry had never seen his son as broken as when they had found Scorpius dead.

He may not like Draco all that much, and he may do everything he could to aggravate Lucius, but he would never truly wish them harm, if for no other reason than to respect the memory of Narcissa and Scorpius.

"Your cell was near the Lestranges, right?" he asked, looking at Barty.

"Yes, we were tossed into the same level, since we were considered some of the most dangerous prisoners they had. They were a few cells down from mine. Black was there as well."

"As soon as the wards are down we will apparate inside. Those of you that don't know Azkaban will partner up with those who do. There are four upper levels; Barty, you'll take your floor. Nott is your son in the same level as Barty?"

"No, my Lord. He's on the second upper level."

"Then you'll take that one. Malfoy, where were you taken?"

"The visitation rooms, on the first floor of the upper level."

"Then you'll take that one. Mulciber you'll go with Nott, and you Avery with Malfoy. Firstly you'll free the Death Eaters, if you have time free the others as well. If they decide to join the Dark Lord Voldemort then we'll add them to our ranks, if not, then we'll kill them. Barty you'll be with me. We'll take the two last floors. Any questions?"

"How much time do we have?" Malfoy asked, keeping his tone respectful.

"Until the alarms go off. Voldemort wants to avoid engaging the aurors, so as soon as the alarms go off we'll leave. We believe that Fudge will blame the breakout on Sirius, so if anyone asks you at the Ministry you'll encourage that."

Malfoy nodded, his gaze looking a little more contemplative than usual.

The next moment they felt magic buzzing in the air and the wards came crashing down.

"Well, get going." Harry ordered, walking towards Barty.

They apparated with a soft crack and Harry smiled at Barty.

"Are you sure you want to go?" Harry asked him, "I'll understand if you don't want to."

"As if I would let you go alone." Barty scoffed, "I won't even ask how you would know where to go."

"I'm familiar with Azkaban." was all Harry said, ignoring Barty's eye roll, "Let's go." he grabbed Barty's arm and apparated them away.

They landed in front of Sirius' old cell and Harry felt no dementors around. He suspected that Tom was talking with them, coming to some sort of agreement. He had to talk to Tom about that. It would be amusing to let them roam amongst the muggles. He was sure that it would provide for countless hours of entertainment for Tom and him; they could even make a sport out of it.

He felt Barty shudder beside him and glanced at him. He looked a little paler than usual and Harry grimaced when Barty's hold on him grew uncomfortable.

"Are you sure you want to come?" he asked again. He could do it on his own, Bellatrix may be a little harder to deal with without Barty there but aside from that he didn't think there would be any trouble.

"I'm not leaving you." Barty told him seriously, "It's not even the dementors I'm worried about." he added, "Bella wasn't all that right in the head to begin with, who knows how she'll be after all this time in Azkaban. I don't even want to think about how she would react to seeing you."

"Barty, I doubt she would know who I am." he tried to reason, even if he had similar thoughts.

"I hate to break it to you, but you are rather unmistakable. I knew who you were the first time I saw you." Barty informed him, "Those eyes... well, there aren't that many people with that color."

"My mother's eyes." he remarked.

"No, not really." Barty commented, "You're mother's eyes were darker. Yours may have the same shape, but yours are the same color as the killing curse."

Harry had to look away when he saw how intently Barty was looking at him. Barty was the first person to tell him that his eyes were different from his mother's. Though he had always thought the same too, he always thought that his mother's eyes were far more beautiful. That's why he always said that his son, Al, had his mother's eyes. Even if Ginny insisted that they were his eyes too.

"Let's get started," he said, changing the subject, "We don't have a lot of time, Tom wants to avoid a conflict with the aurors."

Barty nodded, starting to search the cells for prisoners. The ones closest to them were empty, aside from two. Though Harry glanced at them and knew that there was no need to portkey them back to the manor; they had been Kissed. He grimaced at looked away. He had become quite used to seeing muggles without their souls, but they died after a few days. Wizards however could survive for a very long time, he had almost forgotten how a wizard looked after being Kissed. A muggle looked as if he had slipped into a coma, a wizard looked like a doll. Their eyes opened but not seeing, glazed over and empty. It was quite creepy, since they could move on their own. They just had no drive to do it.

They started opening the cells and giving the confused prisoners the portkeys. He couldn't remember who Tom had assigned to look after the arriving prisoners but he sure hoped that he had left enough people behind to keep them in order. He was almost sure that most of the Death Eaters would at least try to cause a commotion. At least the ones in the lower levels. He doubted that those in the upper levels would have the energy to do much of anything.

He stopped in his tracks when they reached the Lestrange cells. Bellatrix was looking right at him and even after all this time he still felt the urge to curse her into next week. And this time he was sure that his Cruciatus would keep her down for a long time.

"My Lord?" she whispered, looking at him intently. Her whisper caught the attention of the prisoners on either side of her. Rodolphus and Rabastan looked at him just as intently, however their eyes caught the movement at his side and their eyes locked on Barty at his side.

They almost gaped, an incredulous expression appearing on their faces. The most emotion he had ever seen on either brother.

"Barty?" Rabastan whispered.

Barty smiled brightly at them and Harry couldn't stop the fond smile that spread on his lips. It wasn't often that he saw Barty so happy. Barty had told him that he hadn't many friends at Hogwarts, the three Lestranges, then one Black and two Lestranges, were his best friends. From what Barty told him he guessed that their relationship was somewhat like his and Ron's and Hermione's had been.

"Yeah," Barty replied, "We came to get you out."

"We saw them throw out your body." Rodolphus told him, his eyes wide.

"It was my mother." Barty's voice had gone a little flat and Harry took his hand, knowing that Barty had loved his mother a lot. She had been the only support he had while growing up, "She begged my father to make the switch, she was already dying."

Rodolphus nodded solemnly. Harry supposed that he knew as well just how close Barty had been to his mother.

"We should hurry." Harry reminded him, making all four Death Eaters focus on him again.

"Who are you?" Rabastan asked.

Harry looked back at them and noticed that Bellatrix was still looking at him. Did he really look so much like Tom?

"He's Lord Phobos." Barty replied, "He's our new Lord. Our Lord introduced him to us a little while ago."

"Our Lord is back?" Bellatrix asked, looking just as obsessed as he remembered her.

"Yes," Barty told them, his grin just as manic as theirs, "Lord Phobos brought him back. We have our Lord back because of him."

They focused on him again and Rabastan narrowed his eyes slightly.

"He's familiar." he muttered, "Though he's far too young to have gone to school with us."

"His parents went to school with us, he takes after them a little." Barty didn't add more, still slightly unsure about how they would react to knowing that he was the Boy-Who-Lived.

"We really should hurry up," Harry pressed again, "We still have one level left and only a few minutes till the aurors show up. Give them the portkeys." he instructed, already moving towards the other cells. He ignored the eyes that he could feel following him. Their meeting had gone far better than he expected. There hadn't even been one single curse, as far as he was concerned it was a smashing success. He was sure that there would be problems as soon as they found out who he was, but he would let Tom deal with that. It was only right to let Tom handle the crazy Death Eaters... well... crazier Death Eaters.

* * *

"Will you be leaving now?" Tom asked when he saw Harry lingering in the hall with Barty. They had just arrived from the raid on Azkaban. Tom was quite happy with how it had turned out. They had gotten all the Death Eaters out and from what he had seen in the infirmary there would be a few others joining his ranks. There had been no confrontation with the aurors and they had the dementors on his side. He would have to talk with Harry about them, he was sure that Harry would have some ideas about how to use them. If everything went according to plan than Fudge would blame the breakout on Black and the public would remain blissfully unaware of his return. Both knew that Dumbledore would likely know it was he who had done it, but he doubted that Dumbledore would tell Fudge anything about his suspicions, especially because it was a well known fact that Lucius had Fudge in his pocket. They were relatively sure that Dumbledore would not tell the Minister anything until he had more concrete proof. Tom was sure that Dumbledore was just waiting for something to happen at the end of the Tournament, only then would Dumbledore act.

Harry turned around, stopping mid sentence, and Barty gave a slight bow.

"Yeah," Harry replied, "I want to be there when the news breaks. Besides, I have been away far longer than I should have and I don't have Barty to cover for me. Though, since he is with me we could always say that he was training me."

"More like serving as target practice." Barty muttered, and Tom glanced at him. He saw the fondness in Barty's eyes when he looked at Harry and had to grit his teeth. He absolutely despised just how close his Death Eater was to Harry, though he knew there was truly nothing he could do about it, at least for the moment.

Barty looked up and their eyes locked.

Tom saw all he needed to see there.

In this matter his Death Eater wouldn't back down.

In this matter he wouldn't force his Death Eater to submit.

A smirk graced his lips and he looked back at Harry. Harry would be his, nobody else was good enough to have Harry but him. It was as simple as that.

* * *

Harry woke up and he couldn't quite stop the smile from gracing his lips. He could hardly wait to see how everyone would react to the breakout. Panic would spread, at least he hoped it would. There was nothing better than a good dose of panic to start the day.

He snorted and shook his head, he was spending far to much time with Tom if he was starting to have such thoughts.

He got dressed and went down for breakfast, he knew he was a little early, but he wanted to be sure that he was there when the mail arrived. He could hardly wait to see Dumbledore's reaction. He was curious to see what the old man would do. Tom thought that he wouldn't act, Harry however was sure that Dumbledore would do _something_. Even after the little chat he had with the man, Harry had a feeling that the something would somehow involve him.

He sat down at the Gryffindor table, not even glancing up at the Head table. He did his best to look as if he were more asleep than awake, it was the best way to make sure that people stayed away from him. It was a known fact that he shouldn't be approached if he wasn't completely awake, since he had cursed that fifth year in his second year students tended to wait till he was completely awake to talk with him, and he wanted to be sure that he could enjoy the coming moments in peace.

Slowly the Great Hall started filling, students tumbling in, looking just as awake as he was pretending to be. He had to stop himself from grinning as the minutes ticked by.

When the first owl flew into the Great Hall he looked down. This was it.

The noise in the hall dropped drastically. He risked a glance around the hall and had to stop the smirk from appearing on his lips. They sure were awake now.

He glanced at the Daily Prophet headline.

**' _Azkaban emptied!_ '**

It was one hell of a wake up call.

* * *

__

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N.: Hello all :) it's been ages I know, I'm sorry about that. I've moved again and don't have Internet at home. Hopefully it will be up by the end of the month but I can't be sure. I'll be spending the next week at my cousins' so I'll use his Internet connection to post a few things. Hopefully I'll have my own up and running y the time I go back home.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. It showed a bit more about how Tom will deal with Barty and Harry's relationship. He hates it, but he won't force Barty to back down. He his sure of himself, he believes that he will be able to sway Harry to his bed, without having to force Barty out of his life. We can't forget just how arrogant Tom is.
> 
> Next chapter Daddy!Death will be back and Harry gets to officially met the Lestranges, it's going to be a lot of fun :) We'll also have everyone's reactions to the breakout.


	9. Drawing lines

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling. No money is being made.
> 
> Warnings: This story will have slash, violence, torture, and a bit of gore.

 

* * *

**Chapter 9 – Drawing lines**

The day started as any other day. He woke up, got ready for the day ahead, sorted through his correspondence and did his best not to incinerate the ones from people that he would rather ignore than pretend that he in any way cared about what they had to say. He sighed, thinking for the Nth time that he was far too old for this games and went down to have breakfast. If there was anything that put him in a better mood it was seeing all his children, because they were his children, from the moment they stepped through those majestic doors till the moment they left. Even if a few of them strayed a little he never stopped caring about them.

Still, that morning in particular he felt slightly uneasy when he stepped through the door. He could feel the gleeful magic filling the air and in any other circumstance he would have ignored it, it wouldn't be the first time that a student had been overwhelmed by their emotions and their magic reflected it. However this time the glee was shadowed by a malice so strong that it made a shiver run down his spine. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt so much malice, especially in Hogwarts.

It filled him with dread, he just knew that something would happen, something bad. Still, not knowing where the feeling was coming from there wasn't much that he could do. He sat down and started his breakfast, his magic doing it's best to pin-point the source of his uneasiness.

By the time the owls with the post arrived he had almost forgotten the uneasy feeling since most of the students were drowning the other magic, however as soon as the post owls entered the Great Hall there was a sudden spike in the magic. The potency of it making it almost impossible for him to separate it from his own emotions.

His dread increased and he was almost afraid to see what was in the newspaper, he just knew that it couldn't be anything good. When he heard Minerva's soft gasp and Filius' alarmed squeak he couldn't help but look.

"Dear Merlin." he whispered, not really aware that he had done it, when he saw the headline, all color draining from his face. How could this have happened? How couldn't he have seen that something like this would happen? Was this Tom's first move? Why hadn't he called Severus?

His eyes sharpened and his head snapped up when he felt that malicious intent spike.

Voldemort was back. Voldemort had taken his first step. And someone in Hogwarts knew about it.

* * *

Sirius was having a wonderful morning. The sun was shinning, he was sleeping in a comfortable bed, and most of all he wasn't locked up in Azkaban. What else could a person ask for? Life couldn't be better.

Well, if one wanted to be technical about it, it could always be better. Hell, he was sure it would be better if his beloved godson wasn't consorting with a homicidal maniac. But all in all, life was good.

And those happy, somewhat mellow feelings lasted till he saw the front page of the Daily Prophet.

Those happy, mellow feelings? Yeah, they flew right out the window.

* * *

The news about the Azkaban breakout spread like an out of control Fiendfyre. Panic spread just as fast and people feared going out of their homes.

The Minister wanted nothing more than to pretend that everything was fine. So, ignoring the fact that it would require someone of incredible power to be able to break the Azkaban wards the way they had been broken, Fudge blamed the breakout on Sirius Black and assured the Wizarding populace that everything was under control and that the escapees were already being tracked.

Harry couldn't help but sneer at the copy of the Daily Prophet that had been delivered later that same day. He didn't know if he should be disappointed or not that Fudge was so predictable. On one hand it would make life easier for them, on the other hand it was just so disappointing to have such incompetent leaders. It truly would be better for everyone when Tom finally took control of the Wizarding World. At least they would get ride of the incompetence. That could only be a good thing, right?

He stiffened slightly when he felt eyes on him. It seemed he had been right. Dumbledore would be doing something. He had no idea what he would do, but those looks... they were somewhat similar to the ones he had received in his fifth year. Could it be that Dumbledore was actually expecting him to have those visions? He couldn't remember if he had told Dumbledore anything about them. Did he have any visions during the summer? He couldn't really remember. There had been something related to the Riddle Manor, hadn't there? But he hadn't told Dumbledore about it, had he? He didn't think so. Though he had told Sirius about it, now that he thought about it. Had Sirius already told Dumbledore?

Either way he didn't like the looks. It made his skin crawl a little bit. It was hard to forget that the man still wanted him to die for his Greater Good and he was only waiting for the signs of the horcrux waking.

It was rather ironic that Tom's soul was more awake than ever but there weren't any signs of it. There was no pain, only a soft buzz in the back of his mind. Proof that he wasn't alone. He would never admit it but he liked it. After the war knowing that he wasn't alone was such a comfort. He didn't think that Tom truly understood just how much it meant to him that Tom had let him keep his soul. Not only keep it but actually giving him two other pieces.

He was brought out of his thoughts by someone clearing their throat behind him. He looked back and saw a small Slytherin standing behind him, looking a little uncomfortable to be in the middle of Gryffindor territory.

"Yes?" he smiled warmly at the child.

"Professor Dumbledore told me to give you this." he held out a piece of parchment and as soon as Harry took it he scurried away as fast as possible making Harry chuckle.

Really, Dumbledore sure was crafty, sending a Slytherin to deliver a message. He remembered how he had viewed the Slytherins when he was fourteen. It was just another way for Dumbledore to try and see how he ticked, especially now that he seemed to be slipping out of his leash. How would he treat the little, helpless Slytherin?

He sighed and shook his head. How hadn't he noticed that it was always about mind games with Dumbledore? That man thrived on knowledge. Knowing how someone, especially his shinny, golden weapon, thought must be one of the most important things for the man. Otherwise how could he manipulate them into their supposed proper place? All for the Greater Good, of course. Please, do note the sarcasm.

Well, he was working for the Greater Good too. Dumbledore should be proud.

Harry contained a snort and opened his missive. He wasn't really surprised when he saw that it was a summons for a meeting with the old man. He glanced up, noticing that the man in question wasn't at the Head Table anymore and let out a long suffering sigh.

Sometimes he really envied Tom. Tom didn't have to deal with all of this. Maybe he should stage a kidnapping. Dumbledore must at least suspect that Tom was back, so him being kidnapped wouldn't be all that strange, would it? He was sure that he could talk Barty into helping him.

Well, it was something to think about. Now though he had an old goat to wrestle.

"Where are you going?" Hermione asked him, looking at him in concern. She had been rather worried about the breakout, especially about the fact that they blamed Sirius. She didn't know that he was safely in Grimmauld Place.

"Dumbledore called." he replied, showing her the note.

"Alright. Will you be in the common room later?"

"I think so, why?"

"It's just..." she sighed and looked away, though not before he saw a little bit of sadness appearing in her eyes, "You've been busy lately. It seems as if we haven't talked in ages."

Harry felt a pang of regret wash over him. He truly had been neglecting his relationship with her. Though he had been somewhat distant with most Gryffindors. It hurt to look at most of them. He couldn't help but seeing their last moments. Seeing their bodies broken in ways he never thought possible.

"I'm sorry," he ended up saying, truly feeling sorry though maybe not for the reason that Hermione thought, "How about we spend the night by the fire catching up?" he offered and that pang of guilt and regret only grew when he saw just how happy she looked by that simple offer. Merlin, when had it been the last time that he had seen her so happy? Without the burden of war on her shoulders? Without the soul shattering pain of grief marring her features? Merlin, he had missed it. He had missed it so much.

"Alright!" her whole expression lit up, "I'll see you later then."

He smiled and nodded, doing his best to hide his turbulent emotions, and left the Great Hall. He could just hope that Dumbledore didn't aggravate him too much, he wasn't sure he would be able to control himself.

He made the trip to the Headmaster's office almost on auto-pilot. He was starting to find this double life thing quite bothersome and he had only been doing it for a few months. He wasn't sure he would be able to handle three more years, he didn't think he was that good of an actor.

He uttered the password and knocked on the door, not at all surprised to see that Dumbledore knew it was him. He couldn't believe that he hadn't been able to feel the proximity and identification wards in his previous life, they were quite strong and felt like Dumbledore. It was rather disturbing now, it made his skin crawl. Dumbledore's magic felt  _wrong_. Not that there was anything actually wrong with it, but it was nothing like Tom's or even Barty's. It was too Light, there was no other way to describe it. That showed just how much he had changed, what had once been so comfortable now felt almost nauseating.

"Ah, Harry, good-evening. Please take a seat." Dumbledore had his grandfatherly mask on and his twinkling eyes were looking at him without any distrust. Though Harry knew just how well the old man knew how to hide his feelings. He had a better mask than Lucius Malfoy and that was saying something.

Still, there wasn't much he could do, so he took a seat and glanced around the room, noticing Fawkes looking at him from his perch. He hadn't seen the bird since Dumbledore's funeral and couldn't help but feel a sense of nostalgia. He had no idea what had happened to phoenixes in general or to many other magical creatures but he was sure that none of them actually survived the devastation the muggles caused. Everything and anything that was magical was to be put to death no matter if it was an innocent and pure animal or a grown man.

"So, my boy, how have you been doing?" the old man asked and Harry couldn't help but stare at him. What? He sure hadn't expected this kind of opening.

"I'm fine, sir." he replied, not willing to give the man much else. He wanted to see just what Dumbledore's angle was. Until he had a better grasp on his mindset he would keep it to simple, concise answers.

"Are you truly?" blue eyes lost a little of their twinkling, "I know that the recent news on the Daily Prophet may be upsetting, especially since it mentions Sirius and seems to portray him as the culprit."

"I know Sirius didn't do it and that he's safe, so I don't see why I should worry about what they say about him, sir."

"And you are not worried about the breakout?"

No, I'm rather ecstatic about it; he wanted to scream it. Rub it in Dumbledore's face, but he contained himself and did his best to look a little worried.

"Yeah... but, they won't be able to get into Hogwarts, right?"

"Oh, no, my boy." Dumbledore assured him, "No, you do not have to worry about that. Hogwarts is quite safe. I was wondering however if you could think of anyone who would be able to break the Death Eaters out of Azkaban."

"You..." he cleared his throat, "You don't mean Voldemort, do you? He doesn't have a body." he almost shouted, "It can't be him!" maybe he really was a better actor than he thought.

Dumbledore seemed to age in front of his eyes and Harry knew it wasn't faked. He knew that Dumbledore truly felt bad about everything that was about to happen and with the Voldemort situation in general. However he couldn't bring himself to feel any sort of empathy towards the man.

If he allowed Dumbledore to get everything he wanted their world would be doomed. It may seem cruel but he would rather exterminate the muggles than see them destroying magic. He knew that Dumbledore would never accept the fact that they couldn't coexist. Even if he showed Dumbledore his memories he doubted the man would agree to killing all the muggles, he would say that they could always solve things diplomatically. It would be a waste of time and frankly he wasn't all that inclined to try and reason with the man.

"Do you remember at the beginning of summer the strange dream you had?"

"How do you know about that... sir?" he asked, sounding uncomfortable and rather defensive. The typically reaction of a teenaged boy he supposed.

"You aren't the only one in contact with a certain lovable stray." Dumbledore replied, a bright twinkle briefly appearing in his eyes.

"Oh," he murmured, lowering his head, "He told you than..."

"Yes, he did." Dumbledore nodded, "Though do not be cross with him, he was only worried about you."

Harry nodded, biting his lip.

"Wh-," he cleared his throat, "What about the dream, sir?"

"It was about Voldemort, both of us know that. In that dream he was holding a wand. To do that he had to have a body."

"But, professor, it was only a dream." he argued.

"I am so sorry, my boy." Dumbledore sighed, "I do not believe it was a simple dream."

"But how can that be, sir?" he sounded rather agitated, "I was asleep, so it could be nothing but a dream."

"I believe it was a sort of vision."

"A... a vision?" he frowned, "So, I'm a Seer?" he sounded more than a little skeptical.

"No, no. I do not think that you are what people perceive as a Seer."

"Then how can I have visions, sir?"

"I believe that you have visions of Voldemort. The two of you are linked in ways that I don't think anyone truly understands."

Harry took a shuddering breath.

"I... are you sure?" he looked pleadingly at Dumbledore, begging him to tell him otherwise.

"I am truly sorry, my boy."

Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"What does that have to do with Azkaban?" his voice was no more than a whisper but Dumbledore heard him.

"He had a wand, Harry. I believe he is getting stronger and the Azkaban breakout is proof of that. I have to ask you, Harry, have you been getting more dreams? Anything that could tell us what is happening, what he plans on doing? Anything at all?"

"I... no, no dreams. Well, only the normal kind. There has been nothing with Voldemort." he shook his head.

"I see." Dumbledore sighed, "Well, that is good, at least you are not forced to witness his atrocities."

"You think... you think he's really back, sir?"

"I do, yes." Dumbledore replied gravely, his eyes shadowed. Harry only remembered seeing them like that when he was on Death's door and they were talking about horcruxes.

"What is the Ministry doing about it? Do they know?"

"You saw the Daily Prophet, my boy." Dumbledore replied, "That is the official Ministry stance."

"But... you're going to tell them, right sir?"

"I do not think that it would do any good to tell them now, it would not change anything. Cornelius would not believe it."

"Why not? You're Dumbledore, you wouldn't lie about something like that. He must know that!"

"Unfortunately Cornelius is far too taken with his position to accept something like that. I can do nothing but wait till Voldemort moves out in the open."

Harry frowned but nodded.

"Is there something else you need from me, sir?"

"Yes, actually, there is. I was wondering, have you been feeling different since the summer? More emotional? Perhaps quicker to anger?"

"No... not really. Why, sir?"

"No reason, just a thought. That will be all. Thank you for your time, Harry."

Harry blushed a little and nodded, getting up from his seat. He quickly left the office, and only when he was several corridors away did he let a smirk grace his features.

He should get an award for that performance. He sure had earned it. Well, at least he had learned Dumbledore's position on the matter, though he had to wonder just how he was so sure that Tom was back. Snape hadn't been present in any of the meetings and he knew that Tom was blocking the connection to Snape's mark, so he shouldn't have been able to feel the call.

Though Dumbledore had always known Tom rather well and he had always said that Tom would be back. So it really shouldn't surprise him all that much that he jumped to the correct conclusion with so little information.

At least Dumbledore didn't suspect him and he had even forgotten all about his superb performance in the tasks. Well, maybe not forgotten, but it sure had been pushed back on his priorities.

He made a slight detour and went towards Barty's quarters. He had only just remembered that he would need Barty to cover for him. He had gotten a rather angry letter from his godfather. Sirius had told him in no uncertain terms that he was to march his butt to Grimmauld asap. Harry supposed he wasn't all that happy with the Azkaban breakout. Or that he was the scapegoat in it all. Either way he wasn't happy, so he would have to go there and prevent Sirius from storming the castle. He really wouldn't put it past the man.

He sighed and muttered the password to Barty's room, knowing that the man would be either reading or relaxing by the fire. Barty always liked being by the fire, he had told Harry that after a decade under the Imperius he felt that he never could get warm. He knew it wasn't logical, but the curse did mess with people's minds. Harry didn't even want to know just how addled Barty must be.

Just as he had predicted he found the man sprawled on the sofa in front of the fire.

"Hey, Barty." Harry murmured, sinking onto the sofa beside him.

"Harry." Barty replied lazily, and Harry chuckled. Barty looked like a content cat.

"I'll have to be away for a while today. You'll have to cover for me if anyone notices that I'm gone."

"Alright, I'll tell them that I caught you wandering and gave you a lecture on constant vigilance. Are you going back to my Lord?"

"No." Harry shook his head, "I'll have to talk to Sirius, he's not happy with me."

"The breakout?" Barty guessed.

"Yeah." Harry sighed, "I should have guessed that he would suspect that I was somehow involved. What about you? When will you be seeing Tom?"

"When my Lord calls."

"But... don't you want to see your friends?"

"I do." Barty sighed, "I'm quite worried about them. But my Lord gave me a mission and I have to obey."

"Then I'll just take you with me when I drop by the manor." Harry stated, a stubborn set to his jaw. There were many things that had changed about him, however friendship still meant a great deal to him. Barty was a friend, a close friend, who was quickly becoming one of the most important people in this new life, he wanted him happy.

"I don't want you to get in trouble with my Lord."

"I'll deal with Tom. I want you there with me when I meet the Lestranges. Will you deny me?"

"I would never deny you, Harry." came the whispered reply and Harry looked away. He couldn't deal with the intense look in Barty's eyes. Sometimes he truly wished he had learned legilimency.

"Then it's decided, you'll go with me when I go to the manor."

"Alright." Barty smiled, his eyes warm and Harry couldn't help but smile back. He didn't really understand just why he felt so comfortable with the man. However he wasn't about to fight it, he wasn't ashamed to admit that he craved companionship and that was what Barty gave him.

He stayed with Barty for a little while, not talking, just enjoying the company of the other man before he sighed and got up.

"Going already?" Barty asked, a lazy drawl to his words that told Harry that Barty was on the verge of falling asleep.

"Yeah, I promised Hermione that I would talk to her tonight."

"The little know-it-all." Barty grumbled, "I don't understand why you would even bother. You have been quite distant from the little Gryffindors."

"Yeah," Harry sighed, "I don't think they would like the person I have become. It's easier to keep them at arm's length."

"You're saving them." Barty stated fiercely.

"I doubt they'll see it that way." he murmured, not quite able to hide the pain that thought brought him. Even though he did his best not to think about it the fact that his family would likely shun him as soon as they found out what he would do it was something that hurt him deeply. He knew that they weren't the people that they grew into but it still hurt. He couldn't erase decades of memories, of feelings, of comfort, fights, make-ups, laughs, tears. He couldn't just erase a whole life. He couldn't and he wouldn't do it even if he could. Those memories gave him the strength to do what needed to be done.

"Even if they leave you, you'll always have us. You know that, don't you?"

Harry felt warmth filling him. He already knew he would never be alone, he had Death, his father. However knowing that he would have someone besides his father that would be there for him was a balm to his soul. It was something that had been worrying him, he had feared that he was doomed to spent his life as a human alone. This fear was something from his time at the Dursleys and the war hadn't abated it at all, on the contrary in fact, it had increased it.

He doubted that he would ever get over it.

Well... maybe that wasn't true. He had eternity now after all.

"Yeah, I know. Thanks, Barty." he smiled warmly at the man, feeling somewhat lighter.

"Anytime, Harry." Barty replied, slumping back down on the sofa.

Harry left with a small smile on his lips, a smile that continued even when he entered the Gryffindor common room and saw Hermione sitting by the fireplace waiting for him.

He sank down on an armchair beside her, enjoying the usual chaos of the common room for just a second.

"Harry," he glanced at Hermione, "That took a while." she remarked and he shrugged. "What did the Headmaster want?"

"Just to talk about the Azkaban breakout." Harry muttered, "He wanted to know how I was dealing with it."

"How  _are_  you dealing with it?" Hermione asked, a slight frown marring her expression and Harry could see the worry in her eyes.

"I'm fine." he couldn't help but sound slightly exasperated. Really why wouldn't he be alright? There hadn't been any attacks, so why would he be worried? Even if he had still been the same Harry as before he would have been fine. Maybe a little worried, and not feeling quite as gleeful as he was at the moment but he would have been fine. As far as he remembered he had always been  _fine_.

"You're always fine." Hermione echoed his thoughts, looking just as exasperated as he felt.

"If you know that, why do you ask?" he threw her a sunny smile.

"Because I hope that you will give a different answer." she replied, still looking a little mulish. "Though I suppose that after all these years I should know better."

For a moment she reminded him so much of his Hermione that he felt a stab to his heart.

"I'm truly fine. I'm not worried. This is Hogwarts, I doubt that they'll try anything here. Besides, Snuffles is safe, the aurors won't be able to catch him."

She visibly relaxed and he smiled.

"So, how have things been with Ron?" he asked, glancing at the other end of the common room, where Ron was participating in a chess tournament with a couple of older Gryffindors.

"That prat," Hermione huffed, "He's driving me crazy. He knows that you didn't enter the tournament but he still won't talk with you. I just don't understand."

"He's jealous."

"Yes, you already told me that. But I don't see why. You are still you."

"Yes, but you must have noticed that I have a lot more attention on me now. Besides my performance in the tournament hasn't been half bad. He must be wondering if I downplayed my abilities. He has always been insecure, this isn't helping it. And I am not about to force my presence on him. He's a big boy, he knows that his actions have consequences. He'll just have to deal with them when the time comes."

Hermione looked away though not before Harry was able to see the doubt in her eyes.

"What is it?" he asked her, frowning slightly.

"Did you?" she asked, "Did you downplay your abilities?"

For a moment he didn't react, stunned that she had asked him. Though he supposed that he shouldn't have been. Hermione would notice that he was different. The professors may credit his feats in the tasks to studying, but Hermione wouldn't be satisfied with an explanation like that.

"It's not that I doubt you," Hermione quickly added, when she saw his look, "I just... Harry what you did in those tasks... Let's just say that it doesn't surprise me that you have witches and wizards practically worshiping you. I never knew you were that powerful and I've been your friend for years. You couldn't have gained those abilities overnight, Harry."

"Does it matter?" he ended up asking, not really wanting to lie to her, but knowing that he couldn't tell her the truth.

"I... I don't know." she whispered and Harry could see how much it pained her to say it. "If... if you lied about that, about what else did you lie?"

"I'm still me, the same Harry." the lie felt bitter on his tongue.

"That's just it, Harry, if you lied, how do I know just who Harry is?"

Harry sighed and for just a fraction of a second he looked as old as he felt.

"I can't help you with that, Hermione. You have to decide if you trust me or not. I'm still Harry. The Harry that jumped on a troll's back to save your life. I would still do that without a second thought. Well, maybe not jump onto it, since now I would be able to at least curse it or contain it somewhat, but you know what I mean. All in all does it really matter if I didn't use all my power or if I started to truly study this year?" Harry took a deep breath and smiled at her, "You're my friend, Hermione. A very dear friend. You won't stop being my friend even if you need some time to sort everything out."

Hermione looked to be on the verge of crying and Harry hated doing that to her, but it was something that needed to be done. He was resigned to losing their friendship, however that didn't mean he wouldn't fight for it. If he could make her accept him, accept what was to come than he would do it. He had nothing to lose and everything to gain.

He smiled at her, telling her without words that everything was alright, then got up and went to his dorm. He needed to make it look as if he were in bed and then he needed to sneak away to see Sirius. At the moment his godfather was the more pressing matter. He needed to see what the animagus was thinking and do some damage control.

* * *

Albus sighed heavily once the door closed behind Harry.

He wasn't sure if he had done the right thing by bringing up the vision the boy had during the summer, especially since there had been no indication that it was a recurrent occurrence. However he had to ask, just to be sure.

Things were progressing far faster than he had anticipated. He had guessed that the reason why Harry had been entered into the tournament was so that he could be used in some plot of Tom's, though he had no idea what it could have been. He didn't even know if it was still in effect or if the fact that Tom was back had made the plans null and void. He didn't know and that, in and on itself, was dangerous for the Light, they couldn't afford to be in the dark, no pun intended.

A knock on the door brought him out of his thoughts.

"Enter." he was rather grateful that his current guest had been a little late, it was for the best that he and Harry hadn't crossed paths. Merlin knew he wanted them to get along, but he was quite realistic as well. There was far to much bitterness between them.

An involuntary smile appeared on his lips when his Potions Master swept into his office. Severus always had a flair for the dramatics.

"I'm sorry for the delay, Albus." the man murmured, taking a seat in front of his desk, "I was in a crucial phase of a potion, I had to complete it otherwise it would have gone to waste."

"I understand, my boy." Albus smiled at him, though his blue eyes lacked the usual twinkle.

"I suppose that you called me to discuss this morning's news?" Severus stated more than asked.

"You are correct." Albus nodded, letting his worry show for just a moment, "You haven't felt anything from your Mark?"

"No, Albus." no matter how he sounded Albus knew he was worried, "Since that night before the winter break where it burned there has been nothing." Severus looked a bit uncomfortable, but he continued nonetheless, "I find it disturbing that this breakout happened and I was not called."

"Do you believe you lost his trust in you?"

"No one has his trust." Severus sneered, "However I know the Dark Lord couldn't have broken into Azkaban on his own. He must have called the Death Eaters. The only reason I see why he did not call me is that he thinks I betrayed him." Severus paled a little at that admission, as if only then realizing in just how much danger he was.

"What about Igor?" Albus asked, "Has he said anything?"

"That coward." if possible Severus' sneer grew, "He came running when the Mark burned, however since it has been dormant since that night he convinced himself that it had been his imagination. Though, he came to me this morning after the news broke out. He's terrified, but he has no idea of what is happening."

"Do you think he will run?"

"It doesn't matter if he does." Severus replied dryly, "You do not betray the Dark Lord and live through it." he stated and Albus couldn't help but wonder how much that conviction weighted on his mind.

It couldn't be healthy to believe that they were condemned to be killed. It must have been an incredible burden for Severus and it pained him to know that there was nothing he could do for his Potions Master. Severus wouldn't believe him if he told him that everything was going to be alright, especially since both of them knew just how likely that was. Besides he respected the man far to much to give him empty platitudes.

"Do you want me to try and speak with any of my contacts?" Severus asked, "I know you said not to do it, so that it wouldn't arouse suspicion, however that was last month. Now there is a legitimate reason for me to contact them."

"And what if they were ordered to kill you on sight?" Albus asked gravely.

"Then you will have to find yourself anther spy."

"Let's pray then that it doesn't come to that."

* * *

He still couldn't get over how easy it was to sneak out of Hogwarts. He was honestly surprised that more students didn't do it. Though he supposed that if there were that many students out of bed than the professors were bound to notice.

As soon as he was away form the wards he apparated to the front of Grimmauld Place, he wasn't sure if he was keyed into the wards and he would rather not risk losing a limb. The Black wards were quite famous for their viciousness.

A smirk graced his features when he heard Walburga screeching as soon as he knocked on the door. Served Sirius right for making him lose precious hours of sleep.

"Did you have to knock?" was the cheerful greeting from a disgruntled Sirius.

Harry just smiled at him brightly and stepped inside, noticing almost at once that the place seemed to be much cleaner.

He was ushered into the kitchen and he was only a little surprised to see that Remus was there as well. He almost sighed, knowing that there would a rather big confrontation no matter what he did. He knew that with Remus there he wouldn't be able to just talk himself out of it. Remus, unfortunately, wasn't as easily distracted or swayed as Sirius. Though from the wide-eyed stare he was getting from the werewolf, Remus sure wasn't expecting him.

"Harry?" he asked, frowning slightly, "What are you doing here?"

Harry just pointed at Sirius.

"His fault!" was all he said and Remus sighed.

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me." he muttered, both of them ignoring Sirius' wounded look. "What did he do?"

"He sent me a letter, telling me to get my butt to Grimmauld asap." Harry took a seat in front of Remus, smiling at him, "So me, being the polite godson that I am, got my butt to Grimmauld asap." he expertly ignored Sirius' snort.

"What did he want?"

"I'm right here, you know?" Sirius grumbled, taking a seat beside Remus.

"We know." Remus and Harry replied in unison.

"He didn't really say, though I suspect what it is about." Harry replied, a long sigh leaving him and Remus' frown grew a little. "Did you tell him anything?" Harry asked his godfather and sighed again when Sirius shook his head, "Great." Harry mumbled.

"What hasn't he told me?"

"Yes, Harry, what haven't I told him?" Sirius sounded far to pleased with himself and for just a moment Harry wanted to hex the man.

"I joined Voldemort. The breakout was organized by us."

Remus froze. It almost looked like he wasn't even breathing. Then his eyes narrowed and he turned towards Sirius.

"If this is a joke then it isn't funny." there was a slight growl in his tone and Harry was a bit surprised by his reaction. He hadn't expected Remus to become so agitated by the news that he would let his wolf surface, if only a little.

"It isn't a joke. I was the one who gave him a body back." Harry replied, never taking his eyes from the werewolf.

"Explain. Now." there was definitely a growl there and Harry almost grimaced. He was sure that he could restrain Remus if it came down to it, but he really didn't want to go there.

"Voldemort's and my ideals are somewhat similar. I despise muggles with everything I am and I know for a fact that they will kill us if given the chance. If they ever found out about us, and the probability for it to happen is rather high, they would exterminate us. They would hunt us down with no care for anything else but our extinction."

"How can you know that?" Remus asked, and Harry was pleased to see that his godfather remained silent. It would be difficult enough to have this conversation with Remus, there was no need for Sirius to aggravate the situation.

"It's human nature. We fear what we don't understand, we are envious of those that have what we want. We strive to be the top of the food-chain. What do you think they will do when they discover people that are able to bend the laws of nature to their whims?"

"That doesn't explain Voldemort."

"Actually, it does." Harry countered, "I believe that if there is anyone who can save us, who can save magic, it's him. He's the most brilliant wizard to have been born. Sure, he's a little extreme what with his policies regarding muggleborns, but I'm working on that."

"So, your solution to saving magic, which you will be explaining as well, is to join the man that killed your parents and become one of his followers?"

"I'm not one of his followers. I'm Lord Phobos, Lord Voldemort's partner. A second Dark Lord if you will. And my parents agree with my decision."

"You parents are dead." Remus almost spat, "Killed by your so called partner."

Almost without conscious thought the Resurrection stone slipped into his finger.

"We may be dead, Moony, but that doesn't mean we don't agree with him." came his dad's voice from behind him and Harry felt a spark of amusement when Remus almost jumped from his seat, looking with wide eyes at the two shades behind Harry.

Sirius was looking at them as well, a small smile on his lips and the longing in his eyes almost overwhelming.

"Ja-james? Lily? How?" Remus stuttered and Harry had never seen the werewolf so out of it, not even when Tonks got pregnant.

"Our Harry is rather talented." James replied, a wide smile on his lips.

Remus' sharp eyes flew to him, a trace of fear in them and Harry almost winced. For a second he had almost forgotten just how feared necromancers were and he couldn't come out and say: ' _Hey, don't worry, I'm not_ really _a necromancer. I was just adopted by Death._ ' Yeah, that would go over well.

"So... so you know that he joined Voldemort?" Remus asked, looking back to Harry's parents.

His dad sighed and he slumped a little against his mom.

"We are dead Remus, being dead well... we know a lot. So, yes, we know that Harry joined Voldemort. We know why he did it. We agree with it."

"How can you agree? He killed you!" Remus was looking a little out of it and Harry's grip on his wand tightened a bit.

"Yes, he did." Lily smiled sadly, "But he cares for our baby."

"He's the Dark Lord. He cares for no one." Sirius grumbled, looking a little mulish.

"It would be more correct to say that he cares for no one but Harry." his mom argued and Harry blushed slightly.

"I wouldn't say that." he mumbled, "Tom cares. He just has a hard time showing it. But he does care about the Wizarding World. Everything he ever did was for it, for us."

"He has a funny way of showing it." Remus growled, "Killing everyone that is against him, that really shows he cares. He killed you!"

"We know, Moony." James said, "But we forgave him, we moved on."

"Just like that?" Remus asked disbelievingly, "You fought for the light and now you suddenly support everything you fought against?"

"We fought for what we believed in." Lily argued, "We were wrong."

"Wrong?"

"Wrong." James nodded, "We know things now, that we didn't know then. Voldemort may have gone about it the wrong way, but he was fighting for the right thing. Dumbledore on the other hand... I'm sorry to say but he's wrong. The muggles will never accept us. They'll destroy us, our world."

"How can you know that?"

"We are dead." Lily told him, "Time means nothing to us."

"Couldn't you be a little less enigmatic?" Remus grumbled, though there was a fond look in his eyes and Harry could see him relaxing, something which he was rather thankful for.

"I'm sorry, Moony," James looked rather sheepish, "There are things we can't say."

"I understand... I think." Remus mumbled and fell heavily onto his chair, "Though that doesn't explain Harry, or why he joined Voldemort, or how he managed to get him a body back, or how he knew where to even find Voldemort."

"Ah... well, we'll let him explain all those things." James was looking rather shifty and Remus narrowed his eyes, "Oh, will you look at the time!" James exclaimed when he saw the look, "Gotta run, don't wanna be late." and then both shades were gone, Lily's laughter still ringing in the room.

Remus snorted and shook his head, while Sirius outright laughed.

"Don't want to be late..." Remus muttered, "He's dead, he has nowhere to go. Couldn't he come up with a better excuse?" now there was a slight trace of exasperation in his tone and Harry felt his lips twitch.

"You know Prongs, Moony. He always sucked at lying under pressure." Sirius remarked after he got his laughter under control.

"True." Remus muttered. He sighed and glanced at Harry who looked far less tense than a couple of minutes ago, "So, will you explain?"

"There really isn't much to explain." Harry sighed, "I never liked muggles, never had a reason to. But I'm the Boy-Who-Lived, do you know how people would react if I even hinted at that fact?" he couldn't help but wonder how much truth was in there. Had he always felt that way? Had he become so immersed in his role as the Boy-Who-Lived that he had lied to himself? It was difficult for him to remember a time when he didn't feel any sort of negative feelings towards muggles, not that he had any reason to feel anything else about them, still, had he truly hate them? Though he guessed that it didn't matter, that life was over, he had to focus on the now. "So I played my part. But when I learned what Dumbledore wanted... I just couldn't let that be. They will kill us, Remus. Every man, woman, and child. I love the Wizarding World and I will do anything I can to protect it, siding with my parents killer included."

"But what made you think that they would kill us?" Remus asked, trying to understand.

"Have you met my relatives? They would gladly burn us at the stake."

"And you think that just because your relatives behave like that that every muggle will?"

Harry stared at Remus as if he were stupid and a snort left him.

"I'm not an idiot." Harry replied, a little scorn slipping into his tone, "I haven't based my opinion on the whole of the muggle society on a couple of muggles. Though what you don't seem to understand is that I'm hardly the only one. For every five muggleborns there are three that live either with an abusive or neglectful family. If that wasn't enough to tell you just how they would react you just have to turn on the telly and watch their news, or read their papers. They kill each other over their religion, over the color of their skin, over their sexual preference. What do you think they'll do to us?"

"So... You're afraid?" Remus whispered.

"Of course I'm afraid!" Harry exclaimed, his eyes shadowed, "Who wouldn't be? Can you imagine what they would do to us? I would rather preserve our people by acting than to let our world be exterminated by pretending that the muggles pose no threat."

"What about all the innocent people?" Remus asked, his tone low.

"There are no innocent muggles." was Harry's sharp reply.

"What about the children?"

Harry's eyes hardened and his magic filled the room, making it difficult to breath for a second.

"What about our children?" he almost snarled, "At least we will grant them a painless death. Do you think they would do the same to our children? They wouldn't. They would take our children and experiment on them. They wouldn't be merciful enough to grant them death."

"That's only speculation, Harry!" Remus exclaimed, jumping up from his seat, "You cannot know that they would react like that!"

"I know!" Harry roared back, his chair clattering to the floor. He was breathing heavily, barely able to contain his magic. He didn't want to hurt his family, so he was doing his best not to lose control, especially when he noticed the ice forming at his feet. He took a deep breath and tried to regain his composure, but it was so very hard, especially with the memory of all the children he hadn't been able to save swimming in his mind.

He closed his eyes, trying to forget the images in his mind. He felt arms wrap around him and he melted into the warm embrace.

"Father." he whispered, recognizing the arms holding him.

"Shh," Death murmured, "Everything's alright, little one."

"I couldn't save them." he sounded broken even to his own ears.

"I know, little one. It wasn't your fault. It was impossible to save them."

Harry just held Death closer to himself, needing the comfort that Death was so willing to give. For a moment he could pretend that there was no one but him and Death. For just a moment he could forget the rest of the world.

He had no idea how long he stayed there, though when he finally lifted his head he caught Sirius and Remus with their wands out and aiming at Death. He almost snorted at the futility of the gesture, as if a wand could in any way harm Death. Though a second later he groaned and buried his head back into Death's chest. Well, the cat was out of the bag.

"Sirius, Remus, sit down." he told them, looking back up just in time to catch the incredulous looks that both men aimed at him, "I'll explain, though you don't need to point your wands at him. Aside from the fact that you wouldn't be able to harm him even with a killing curse, he means me no harm."

Slowly both men sat down, though they kept their wands in their hand. Harry tried to get off Death's lap, only then noticing that Death had conjured a rather comfortable armchair, but his father kept his arms around him making it impossible for him to move. Though he wasn't trying all that hard to move either.

"Remus, Sirius, let me introduce you to my father, Death." he said, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible.

"Wh-what?" Sirius stuttered, eyes going to the figure that had his godson on his lap, for the first time noticing the otherworldly beauty of the being. He couldn't really see how he hadn't noticed that the being wasn't human; but  _Death_? Death  _Death_?

Harry sighed, looking far older than fourteen for a moment.

"I know what they will do because I lived it." he confessed, eyes locking on Remus, "This is my second chance, and I will not waste it."

"Second chance?" Sirius whispered, looking pained.

"Yeah. My first life... Well, I was the perfect little weapon. I did everything that Dumbledore wanted. Hell, I killed Voldemort before I turned eighteen. That would classify as me being a very successful Boy-Who-Lived, don't you think?" there was a slight smirk to his lips, "I went on and married Ginny, had three kids and my life was everything everyone had expected of me. Then the muggles found out about us. We weren't all that worried at first, we believed we would be able to beat them. We were wrong." Harry took a shuddering breath, "I was the last one of our family alive. One of the last magical people alive, as a matter of fact. I was gunned down and they laughed while I bled to death. But I died with a smile on my lips, do you know why?" when both men shook their heads Harry let a sinister smirk grace his features and his eyes showed the insanity that plagued him, "Because I knew that they would soon join me in hell, after all people can't survive on a dead planet."

Remus and Sirius were looking at him with pain filled eyes and Harry had to look away.

"Then I woke up and met Death. He gave me a second chance."

Silenced followed his confession and a part of him was afraid of how they would react. He wasn't even sure if they would believe him. The only reason why he was as calm as he was was because Death was holding him. He was sure that he wouldn't have been able to do it if he hadn't Death with him.

"A second chance? Just like that?" Remus murmured, "Second chances don't come cheap."

A dark chuckle filled the room and Sirius and Remus paled when Death looked at them.

"True, second chances don't come cheap." Harry noticed that both men shivered when they heard the dark, smooth voice, "Though it is different with Harry. Harry is my son, there is nothing I would not do for him."

"Y-your son?" Sirius spluttered.

"Yes. I have been beside Harry since the night his parents were killed. I saw him grow, I could not help but love him. When the muggles destroyed the world I was overcome with rage. They had dared to harm my son." Death's grip on Harry tightened a little, "When he came to me I told him everything and gave him the option to go back in time and create an alternate time-line where he could make different choices."

"I took that chance." Harry murmured, "I can't see our world be turned asunder again. If I have to kill every single muggle to avoid it then so be it."

Silence filled the room again, and Harry couldn't bring himself to look at his dad's friends.

Death studied the two men in front of them. He knew how much his little one cared for them which was the only reason why he had shown himself to them. He knew that Harry needed their support, not that he wouldn't survive if both of the mortals were against him, however he didn't want for his son to suffer, and having them side against him would make him suffer. He also knew that the werewolf wouldn't accept half answers. He was far more distrustful of the dark than the Black Lord and as a werewolf that had lost his pack to the dark he would be far harder to convince, especially since he saw Harry as his cub. A cub that needed to be protected at all costs.

Fortunately that was something they could agree upon. And since they had that in common he had deigned to grace them with his presence.

He caught their eyes and promised all matter of gruesome deaths if they harmed his son.

Both paled, but there was a spark in their eyes that told him that they had gotten the message and were rather pleased with it as well.

* * *

Long after Harry had gone back to Hogwarts Sirius and Remus were still in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place, both men drowning in their thoughts.

Truthfully they didn't know how to react to what Harry had told them. They believed him, that wasn't the problem, the difficulty was in accepting what Harry had told them. True, they understood why he had joined Voldemort, why he hated muggles, but that didn't make it any easier to associate a broken, adult Harry, with the fourteen year old he was supposed to be.

A part of them couldn't help but feel guilty about having left Harry alone to deal with all of it. Harry hadn't come out and told them that they had been dead, but it had been rather easy to deduce, especially since Harry told them that he had been the last of his family to live.

It was illogical, of course, but they couldn't help it.

They had both lived through a war, both had lost family and it had nearly destroyed them. So it was rather easy to see how Harry became the way he was. Both had seen the insanity that lurked beneath the anger and determination. Could they really fault him for going to the only person that would be able to relate? Not that either of them approved of Voldemort, but they could see how he would appeal to Harry, murderous tendencies included.

Remus sighed and looked at Sirius, both feeling older than they were.

"It kinda explains his performance during the tasks." Remus remarked earning a snort from Sirius.

"Does it?" Sirius muttered, "Have you ever seen anyone wield magic like that?"

"No, not really." Remus confessed after a moment, "Not even Dumbledore."

"Exactly. The war he lived through may explain many things about him, though I doubt that it explains his power. That, I think, is something that Death did."

A dark chuckle filled the room, making both men tense in their seats.

"You do have a brain in that big head of yours, mortal." Death remarked, leaning casually against the wall.

Both men stared at the immortal being in front of them, not really knowing what to do or say. Something in their very soul told them to tread carefully, that the being in front of them was far beyond anything they had ever seen. And no matter how reckless they may have been, they weren't stupid; they would listen to that something.

A smirk spread on Death's lips, and they couldn't help but shied away from the entity.

"Now that my little one isn't here, let me make something perfectly clear," Death stated, looking more menacing than it had the moment before though it hadn't moved a muscle, "You harm him in any way, shape, or form and you will learn just why the ancient Greeks called one of my personifications Keres. Do we understand each other?"

If possible Remus and Sirius became even paler, however there was a fierce light in their eyes.

"We would never hurt Harry." Sirius growled rather fiercely considering who he was talking to.

"So you say, mortal." Death murmured.

"Harry's mortal too." Remus remarked, studying Death closely, even though his wolf was telling him to flee. For his cub he would face even Death, he had always thought that, he just never expected it to be quite so literally.

He wasn't expecting for Death to laugh. If he were being completely honest it was more than a bit creepy.

"Mortal?" Death asked, "Did you think I would let my son remain mortal, when I could so easily remedy it? He may be human, a wizard, however he is no mortal."

"He... Harry's immortal?" Remus whispered.

"He is." Death confirmed, "In a few years he'll stop aging. My son has eternity waiting for him, so if he wants to play with you mortals, then it's his choice. Once he's bored with you we'll move on. Maybe he'll want to destroy a couple of worlds, or enslave one. Who knows? He has eternity to do whatever he wishes."

"You don't care?" Remus sounded a little aghast.

"I am Death. The only thing I care about is my son." Death stated, "There is a reason why beings such as myself don't form bonds. Everything, aside from us, is so ephemeral. Even amongst beings like me I am the only one that is truly immortal, all the others I will eventually take. I will end up taking the whole universe, only to see a new one be born in it's place. Can you imagine the pain of seeing everything you care for being lost to time? Can you imagine the number of universes I have seen? I was there at the very first beginning. The second something came to be I was there." when Death saw their looks he chuckled, "Of course, I just had to form an attachment to Harry. I let him live a normal life. I didn't interfere. And then the muggles came along and ruined everything. So I did what any loving father would have done. I made it better for him."

"By making him immortal?" Sirius asked, looking just as shocked as Remus.

"By giving him what he needed. The immortality is more for me than for him. Do not tell me you would be cruel enough to ask a father to give up his son." Death smile was in no way reassuring, "Either way it does not matter. Do not think, even for a second, that your opinion, or your feelings will in any way change a thing."

"Then why tell us?" Sirius almost demanded.

"For my own amusement, perhaps." Death mused.

"I don't see how it's amusing." Remus grumbled.

"Yes, well, when you have eternity you find amusement in the little things." Death smiled and vanished into thin air.

Both men seemed to breath easier, and slumped in their seats.

"Who would have thought that Death could be so frustrating." Sirius muttered.

"That's what you focus on?" Remus asked him, sounding more than a little exasperated.

Slowly Sirius nodded.

"I suppose that there are other things to focus on."

"Yes, such as Harry being a Dark Lord. Harry being immortal."

"What will we do?"

"Do you really think that there is anything we can do?" Remus muttered, "We cannot stand against Death."

"I don't think anything can stand against Death. He did create a completely new time-line just for Harry, to make him happy."

"It's somewhat intimidating, isn't it?" Remus whispered, "With Death by his side, do you think he even needs us?"

"He may not need us," Sirius replied after a couple of moments in silence, "But he did choose us. He wants us beside him."

A small chuckle left Remus and a genuine smile lip up his features.

"True. He wants us with him."

"That puts us in a spot, doesn't it?" Sirius grinned, "If we didn't stand with him in his quest to subdue, or exterminate not really sure which route he'll opt for, the muggles than that would make us rather ungrateful, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah, it would." Remus nodded gravely, though his eyes gave him away, they were twinkling with mischievous, "We'll just have to side with him in the coming war."

Silence filled the room for a heartbeat.

"Oh Merlin." Sirius whispered, the reality of the situation crashing down on them.

"We're really doing this?" Remus murmured, looking stricken, "We're betraying the Order and joining Voldemort?"

"Technically we're siding with Harry." Sirius grumbled.

"No matter how you word it, it doesn't change the fact that we are betraying the Light." Remus almost snarled.

"I know." Sirius sighed, looking so tired that Remus felt bad for snapping at him. It was hardly Sirius' fault, "Though, to be honest, I don't think I feel as guilty as I should." Sirius confessed, "It's more the Voldemort thing that's bothering me. But leaving the Light... Let's be honest here Remus, what good did the Light ever do to us?"

"I know you're bitter-"

"Damn right I'm bitter!" Sirius shouted, jumping from his seat, "Wouldn't you? They left me to rot!" Sirius growled, "It's been over a decade, Remus. What changed for you? Do werewolves have comfy jobs now? Hell, do they have rights?" when Remus looked away Sirius sat back down and took a deep breath, "It's been years Remus and nothing changed."

"And you think it will change with Voldemort?"

"I don't see how it could be worse." Sirius admitted.

* * *

Harry lay awake long after he had left Grimmauld Place. He hadn't really thought about telling Sirius and Remus the truth about himself, honestly he hadn't thought about telling anyone but Tom about himself.

He had been a little irritated with Death when he showed himself like that, about forcing him to come clean with his godfathers. However, now that he had time to think about it, he could understand why Death had done it. He knew he had been about to break and only Merlin knew what would have happened then.

He was positive that he would have hurt his godfathers if he had lost control, something he wanted to avoid at all costs. It wasn't only his magic he had to worry about now. His elemental powers were devastating if he lost control of them. From what he had found out he could have destroyed the whole block if he was powerful enough and something told him that he was.

Though now he had to deal with Remus and Sirius actually knowing the truth. He didn't really know how he would deal with all of it. He had seen how both men had reacted. They understood why he had taken the path he had, however they hadn't seem to be truly able to accept it. Though it could be that they had been far too shocked to be able to properly think about what he had told them.

That was one of the reasons why he had left as quickly as he had, the other one being that he needed a little space as well.

He sighed and closed his eyes, trying to fall asleep. He had a long day ahead of him and it would do him no good to lose sleep over something he couldn't change.

* * *

"Ready to go?" he asked Barty as soon as he arrived.

"In a minute." came the shout from the bathroom.

Harry sighed and fell into an armchair. He was a little impatient truth be told. His day had been horrible, he didn't think he could stand it a second longer and at least Tom would let him unwind. Maybe they could go hunting for a bit. He was sure that Tom wouldn't mind.

"Ready." Barty stumbled out of his room and Harry almost jumped to his feet.

"Finally." he grumbled, making Barty stop in his tracks and look at him.

"Is something wrong?" Barty asked, looking him over and Harry deflated slightly.

"I'm sorry." he murmured, letting Barty pull him closer, "It's just... well, it's been a horrible day."

"What happened?" he almost melted into Barty's embrace.

"Nothing. I don't really know why I'm so on edge. Maybe it was all those pitying looks."

"Because of the breakout and they blaming Black?"

"Yes... I don't know. Maybe I'm just tired of always having this mask on. I'm tempted to ask Tom to stay with him."

"I doubt he would refuse you." Barty replied, his arms tightening around him.

"I know, but I also know that it's better for us in the long run if I stay here."

"If it makes you miserable..."

"There are more important things."

"Not to me." Barty stated so fiercely that it took Harry by surprise.

"Barty... what?"

"I'm loyal to my Lord, to his cause," Barty almost whispered, "Though I would, without a second thought, put you before all of it."

"Barty..." Harry murmured, not really knowing what to say.

"I care about you Harry. You mean the world to me, not because you are my Lord, but because you are you. I'm not asking for anything aside from your company. Please Harry, don't stop spending time with me just because of what I told you."

"I couldn't even if I wanted to." Harry whispered, only then realizing just how true that was, "You're important to me, Barty, I don't think I could stay away from you. You are one of the few people I trust, one of few that I can be myself with." Harry took a deep breath and felt his body relax even more in Barty's arms, "I don't think I could give that up."

Barty closed his eyes and buried his head in the raven locks. It was far more than he had expected for his sudden confession. Though he didn't think that Harry saw it in the light he had meant. Still it was better than nothing and he was patient, he could wait. He would wait, if it meant he could spend the rest of his life with Harry in his arms.

"Thank you." he breathed, beyond grateful at not being rejected.

"There's nothing to thank me for," Harry murmured back, "I don't think you fully realize what it means to me to have someone like you, if anyone should be thanking anyone, it should be me."

It was difficult for Barty to wrap his mind around what Harry was telling him. How could Harry feel that about him? How had he come to mean so much to his green-eyed Lord? It was something he didn't understand, but, truthfully, he didn't really care how it came to be as long as he was allowed to continue to be by his side.

Barty didn't really know how long they stayed like that, but when Harry started to pull away from him he couldn't help but tighten his arms just for a fraction of a second, showing his reluctance in letting him go. Not only in letting him go, but in going to his Lord.

He knew he wasn't the only one that wanted to be with Harry. His Lord's possessiveness had been clear for all to see, though he found it somewhat funny that Harry seemed to be the only one who hadn't caught on to it.

However he had no idea if his Lord simply wanted Harry because of his power or if there was something more to it. He had never seen his Lord shown interest in anyone, at least not the way he was showing Harry. Sure, it was a known fact that their Lord took Death Eaters to his bed. Though that was all it had been. Taking them to bed. There was no illusion about what it meant to their Lord. They all knew that they had been nothing more than a one night stand, sometimes not even one night, just a quick fuck after a particularly stimulating raid.

But the way his Lord looked at Harry... He had never seen his Lord look at anyone like that.

A part of him, the part that was a loyal, Inner Circle Death Eater, wanted to step down. To let his Lord have Harry. However another part of him rebelled against it with everything he was. Just thinking that someone else could be with Harry... he didn't think he had ever felt so murderous. He would fight for Harry, even against his Lord.

"We should get going." Harry murmured, and Barty nodded.

It felt somewhat wrong to leave things as they were, as if there were things that had been left unsaid. However he had promised himself that he wouldn't push Harry, he would keep his promise.

"Lead the way." he said, finally pulling away from Harry.

Harry caught his eyes for a second. Trying to see if everything was alright between them and Barty did his best to assure him. Seemingly satisfied Harry turned away and left his quarters, Barty following him.

Soon they were out of the wards and Harry apparated them to Tom's study.

Harry grumbled a bit when he landed, since Barty's arm around his waist was the only reason why he hadn't landed on his ass.

"I just can't get the hang of apparating with other people. I always stumble." he complained, ignoring Barty's chuckle.

"No one's perfect," an amused voice coming from behind them replied, "Aside from me, of course."

"Of course." Harry replied, a fond smile on lips, "No one but you could possibly be perfect, Tom."

Barty's arm left him and he could feel Barty standing straighter and bowing.

"My Lord."

"Barty." Tom nodded, "Was there something you needed?" which Harry translated to, ' _What the hell are you doing here_?'.

"I asked him to come." Harry interjected, "I didn't want to meet the Lestranges alone and Barty is their friend, so..."

"I see." Tom got up from his seat, "They are still in the infirmary. From all the Death Eaters those three are some of the worse off."

"I can understand that." Harry muttered, "They were in the high security section, with 24/7 dementor presence."

"Yes." Tom looked grave, "If they weren't as strong as they are I doubt they would have been coherent."

"How about all the others?" Harry asked.

"There's a bit of everything." Tom sighed, looking exhausted, "Extreme cases of fatigue and malnutrition, pneumonia, broken bones... It will take a while to have them all in top condition. We'll have to go over some plans."

"Alright," Harry nodded, "I'll just look into the Lestranges, I would rather they know it's me before all the others. Then I'll come here and we'll talk before I go back to Hogwarts with Barty."

"Alright." Tom agreed easily, knowing why Harry wanted to meet the Lestranges first. Harry had told him all about Bellatrix's obsession with him, not only that but also how utterly insane she had become.

It was hard for him to hear about something like that. Bella had been one of his favorite Death Eaters. She was almost a female version of Barty. Truly loyal to him. It was one of the reasons why he had trained them personally, they had deserved it. To know just how broken one of them was... well, it was hard. No matter what people said about him he took care of his Death Eaters, at least of those that deserved it. Knowing that there was nothing he could do about this left a sour taste in his mouth. He wasn't used to feeling powerless.

Harry smiled at Tom and dragged Barty with him out of the office.

"I don't think you realize how strange it is to see you and my Lord interacting." Barty muttered.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, still dragging Barty behind him.

"No one talks to my Lord like you do." Barty clarified.

"Well, I'm not one of his followers, so it's only natural that I have a little bit more freedom."

"If you say so." Barty murmured, though his eyes betrayed his disbelief.

"Now, are you ready to protect me from your slightly less sane friends?" Harry asked him when they approached the infirmary doors.

"Of course." Barty replied seriously, "I wouldn't let anyone harm you, even my friends."

Harry smiled, believing every word from Barty. Before that day he may have been a little skeptical, however after the declaration Barty made just a little earlier it made it difficult to believe otherwise.

He opened the doors, slipping inside without attraction the attention of the healers moving around.

"Where do you think they are?" he asked Barty, looking over the beds.

"They are Inner Circle members, it's probable that they are in private rooms. Or at least one private room, so that they can stay together but still separated from the rest." Barty replied, looking around, "This aren't all the Death Eaters we broke out of Azkaban."

"Then we have no choice," Harry said gravely, "We'll have to face the beasts."

Barty couldn't quite contain his snort when he saw Harry approaching one of the healers as if he were walking to his own execution.

A short conversation later and Harry was scouring away as if he were running from the devil himself. It amused Barty to no end to see that Harry could face his Lord head on but was afraid of healers.

Harry narrowed his eyes when he saw his amused expression.

"Don't say anything." Harry threatened.

"My lips are sealed." Barty murmured, a smirk on his lips, "Your fear of Healers is safe with me."

"They are worse than the devil himself." Harry muttered, looking away sullenly.

"Fine, fine." Barty raised his hands in surrender, "Did he tell you where they are?"

"Yes," Harry nodded, "They are in the last room. The healer said they should be awake, since they took their potions a while ago."

"Let's go than." Barty couldn't quite hide his excitement, "I haven't see them in so long." the longing was hard to mask, but he also knew that Harry wouldn't judge him for it.

"I'm sure that they are anxious to see you too." Harry smiled at him, "Come." Harry pulled him and Barty let him lead them towards the room his friends were in.

Though part of him was a little afraid of seeing just how damaged they were. The glimpse he had of them in Azkaban wasn't enough to see how they were. However his Lord's words were not encouraging. He was truly afraid of how Azkaban had affected them.

"Don't worry," Harry whispered, "Everything will be alright."

"What if... what if Azkaban broke them?"

"From what I know of the Lestranges they are far to strong to be broken by Azkaban." Harry told him full of confidence, "They may be a little out of shape but they aren't broken."

Barty nodded. He took a deep breath when he saw that they had stopped in front of the door.

"Ready?" Harry asked, squeezing his hand.

"Yes." he nodded, taking strength from Harry's presence.

Harry gave him one last smile and opened the door.

Barty felt his breath catch when he saw his three friends on the hospital beds.

He hadn't really noticed in Azkaban, but they looked so frail. It looked as if a breeze would be able to shatter them.

Rabastan was the first to look at them. He barely glanced at Harry before his eyes landed on Barty and widened.

"Barty." came the raspy whisper from Rabastan, catching the attention of the other two who looked at them.

They seem to completely ignore Harry's presence, at least for the moment.

"I thought I had imagined it." Rodolphus murmured, "You were there though, you took us out of Azkaban."

Barty walked towards them, as if in a trance, nodding numbly at Rodolphus.

"Yes," he agreed, "I was there. Our Lords allowed me to be there, even though I'm currently on a mission."

"Lords?" Rabastan frowned, "That was true too?"

Their eyes finally locked on Harry who was still standing by the door.

"You look a bit like the blood traitor." Bellatrix said, "Like Potter." she added.

"I should hope so," Harry replied, standing beside Barty, "I'm his son."

"Potter!" Bellatrix snarled, her hand going to a wand that wasn't there.

"Watch your tone, Bella." Barty growled, his wand already out and pointing at her, visibly surprising the other three.

"Barty?" Rabastan questioned, looking a bit hurt.

"He's our Lord, Lord Phobos." Barty replied, his wand never wavering, "He brought our Lord back to his prime. He may be the Boy-Who-Lived, but he is on our side, and our Lord trusts him."

"Our Lord trusts no one." Rodolphus deep voice stated, though there was a slight trace of curiosity to his tone.

"He trusts him." Barty repeated, with such certainty that even Bellatrix stopped her glaring, "Harry, show them the locket."

Curious about what Barty wanted with the locket Harry pulled it from under his shirt.

The moment their eyes landed on it they froze, Bellatrix even palling a little.

"You know what this is." Harry realized and in a second his wand was out, pointing at them. Tom had never told anyone about his horcruxes, "How do you know what it is?" he demanded, losing his grasp on his elements making the room grow colder and darker, "Answer me!" he exclaimed, when the three Lestranges where still frozen. He ignored Barty's still form, knowing that the man must have known what it was too, had probably known since that night he had slept in Barty's room.

"I'm a Black." Bellatrix replied, "I knew what it was the moment the Dark Lord gave one to me to keep safe." she sounded saner than he had ever heard her, which was saying something, "I told Barty, Rodolphus, and Rabastan, so they could help me securing it. They needed to know just how important it was." she glanced at the locket, "How do you know what it is?"

"That doesn't matter." Harry replied, his wand lowering, "I'll have to tell Tom that you know-"

"He'll kill us." Rabastan stated.

"He won't," Harry replied, "He may be displeased that his secret isn't as secret as he thought, but he won't kill you. Though he'll probably want to increase the security on all of them, not counting the ones I have."

"You have more than one?" Bellatrix asked, looking a little shocked.

"He gave me three." Harry replied, seeing no harm in telling them.

"Three?" Bellatrix breathed the word in wonder.

Well, technically Tom had given him two, but he counted the one inside of him too.

"Our Lord must truly trust him." Rodolphus murmured, "I can't help but wonder what's so special about you to not only make one of our brothers turn against us at the mere hint of a threat but also make our Lord trust you so."

Harry gave them a feral grin, surprising them a little.

"I guess you'll have to wait to see, won't you?"

Bellatrix gave a delighted cackle.

"I think I like you, little Lord." she grinned at him, looking somewhat unhinged.

"Yay." Harry deadpanned making Barty laugh.

Harry even spied a smirk on Rabastan's lips. Considering the last time he had seen the man he had been throwing killing curses at him, Harry considered this introduction to be an overwhelming success.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N.: Well the new chapter is up. I hope you all enjoyed it. At least we got a little more Death, which is always welcome in my book, he's kinda adorable. I can hardly wait to have Tom meeting him, it will be so much fun. At least for me it will be, Tom won't find it half as funny as I :P
> 
> We had a bit of the Lestranges as well :D They'll come to like Harry, at the moment they are more curious about him than truly liking or respecting him. Aside from Bella, of course. She's complicated. She likes Harry because, apparently, her Lord does and that's enough for her. But on the other hand she's slightly unhinged and there will be clashes between them, especially when Sirius' involved.
> 
> Next chapter there will be meetings between Tom and Harry, a little bonding between certain characters, the third task, and important announcements.
> 
> I'll do my very best to have this chapter up sooner, however I have to work on the others as well, I don't want to neglect any of my stories.
> 
> For those who follow more than this story of mine, the next update will be Rise of a Dark Lord.
> 
> I want to thank all of you for your support. It means a lot to me that you stick with me despite my irregular updates. I try to have it up as fast as I can but, unfortunately, life does get in the way. However I want to make it clear that I won't ever abandon my stories. I started them and I will finish them.
> 
> On another note, I have a few other stories that I'm working on. I haven't posted them yet but I am working on them. I was wondering if you would like for me to post them, or if you would prefer for me to finish these and only then post a new one. In terms of updates it wouldn't change anything, since I would still work on the other stories, just as much as I do now. The only change would be that there would be a few more stories to read on my profile.


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